The Detroit Pistons took huge strides this past season by making the postseason. However, they were quickly swept by the Cavaliers who went on the win the NBA Championship.

Now they're back for the 2016-17 season with all members of their starting five returning as well as Stanley Johnson back, and they're poised for a breakout season under head coach Stan Van Gundy.

Van Gundy spoke about the new additions the Pistons brought in this offseason and how it'll give him more flexibility in terms of playing time.

“I think the big thing going forward is getting our rotation right,” said Van Gundy. “I think we’ve got what we need across our roster to have flexibility, but now it’s who plays with who and when do they play and all of that. I think that you’ve got to get that right to get some better balance in terms of offense/defense and better balance between starting lineup/bench. So figuring all that out and figuring out how all of that fits, that’s going to be a challenge – and who else is going to fit into it.”

In addition to the different players Van Gundy has at his disposal, he made it a point that he would like to reduce the minutes of two of his key starters in Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Marcus Morris.

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“You’d like to get Marcus and KCP down a little bit, but they’re both capable of handling the minutes. You’re going to do whatever gives you a chance to win, but I think we’ve got enough depth. Hopefully, if we get the improvement from people that we ought to, get them to more reasonable minutes.”

Caldwell-Pope averaged 36.7 minutes per game last season, including 16 games seeing at least 40 minutes. He put up some respectable numbers averaging 14.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.

Morris averaged 35.7 minutes per game and had 18 games of at least 39 minutes per game for Detroit. In those nearly 36 minutes per game, Morris put up 14.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and almost a steal per game.

With the team poised to make another playoff push, it would make sense for Van Gundy to reduce the amount of minutes each guy plays as they look ahead to being fresh for the postseason. A solid year of experience together also helps.