Detroit Pistons head coach Dwane Casey says the Pistons have more “diversity” and “flexibility” around All-Star power forward Blake Griffin.
Casey doesn’t plan to scale back Griffin’s minutes, but he will lighten the load by spreading ballhandling duties.
Detroit signed former MVP Derrick Rose this summer and starting point guard Reggie Jackson appears to be healthy after dealing with injuries the past two seasons.
“He’s not where he was at this time last year, physically. He’s back on the court playing. He’s worked his butt off. They’ve been trying to slow him down a little bit just to make sure he didn’t overdo it because he’s such a worker, but he’s back playing and working out,” Casey told Keith Langlois of Pistons.com about Griffin, who had knee surgery after the season ended.
“He’s got his routine. He reminds me of Dirk Nowitzki. He’s one of those guys you’ve got to try to keep off of the floor, but we expect him back full speed, 100 percent, no lingering effects of what he went through last spring. The key with us is we have more diversity around him, flexibility around him, other guys who can handle the ball and make plays, which will take some of the pressure off of him of having to carry such a load.”
Blake Griffin put up 24.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in 2018-19. The Pistons will go as far as the high-flyer can take them, but they will also need their role players to step up and help Griffin in crunch time.
Rose averaged 18.0 points per game for the Minnesota Timberwolves last season. He will take some of the pressure off from Griffin, especially in the fourth quarter.
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