Pistons season preview: Kevin Huerter’s 3-point shooting could make or break his spot in the rotation

When the Detroit Pistons traded Jaden Ivey at the deadline last season for Kevin Heurter, I was a bit underwhelmed. I hadn’t spent a ton of time watching Heurter play throughout his career and pretty much just viewed him as a shooter whose shot had been failing him the last couple seasons.

Say what you want about Jaden Ivey and where things have gone for him since that trade, but getting that value out of somebody you spent the 5th pick on just a few years earlier could be viewed as selling low. Especially since that player had seemingly lost the one skill that he had banked on throughout their career, and Ivey was in the midst of a breakout season before suffering his season-ending injury the prior season and was still hypothetically getting his legs back when dealt.

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When Heurter arrived, the shooting was mostly still dormant, but what stood out was all of the little things on the court he was able to do. His finishing around the basket is fantastic, and he can defend well in a team setting. I wouldn’t call him a shot-creator, but he does have some ability to put the ball on the floor and create a little offense for himself and others, especially when playing off of another ball handler, a skillset the Pistons badly need.

All of these things are why he was given a three-year, $27 million deal to return to the team in the offseason. Those are the things that still have value for a bench player, even if his shot never gets back to where it was early in his career. But as the Pistons look to keep their reign at the top of the Eastern Conference, they will need bench players who can provide skills their main rotation players do not, and one of those skills is outside shooting.

If Kevin Heurter hopes to carve out a consistent role in the Pistons’ regular-season rotation, getting his shot back is going to make or break his season.

The Shooting

Kevin Huerter is a 36.8% three point shooter for his career. But that is skewed heavily by four of his first five seasons in which he shot over 38% from beyond the arc, which is also where he got his reputation as a shooter. After hitting a career-high 40.2% of his…

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Publish date : 2026-10-18 04:00:00

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