Bojan Bogdanovic won’t single-handedly fix the Pistons. But his presence will help

Published 11:00 a.m. ET Dec. 3, 2023 | Updated 6:49 p.m. ET Dec. 3, 2023

Monty Williams planned to be judicious with Bojan Bogdanovic’s minutes. But ultimately, the veteran forward forced the Detroit Pistons head coach’s hand.

In his season debut after missing the Pistons’ first 19 games, Bogdanovic scored 22 points on 7-for-15 shooting. He immediately looked like the player who averaged an efficient 21.6 points in Cade Cunningham’s absence last season, knocking down his first 3-pointer and keeping the Pistons in the mix late with another stepback 3.

It wasn’t enough for a Pistons team that hasn’t entered the win column in more than a month. They fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers at home Saturday night, 110-101, to extend their franchise-worst losing streak to 17.

Bogdanovic didn’t fix the team’s ongoing issues with turnovers — they committed 16, off of which Cleveland scored 21 points. And Detroit still struggled with cold spells, giving up a late 15-5 run that allowed the Cavaliers to pull away late. But he gives them a needed offensive weapon.

Williams acknowledged he’s still figuring out how to maximize the team’s bench minutes. Bogdanovic was with the second unit in his first game back, but ended up playing 27 minutes and closing the fourth quarter alongside four starters.

“I probably extended him a bit too much, but we have a few days off so we felt like he could recover,” Williams said. “I ran some stuff down the stretch for him and I think he was a bit gassed at that moment. I just love having him out there on the floor. His energy, his feel for the game, his ability to draw fouls, talk on the floor. That’s something we certainly need.”

Bogdanovic said he strained his right calf right before training camp, then suffered another setback in November that delayed his return to December. He has had calf issues dating back to his previous stop with the Utah Jazz, and the Pistons wanted to be cautious with the 34-year-old forward.

But he didn’t miss a beat in his return. And the hope is that, beyond his scoring, he will also give the team a stabilizing presence in moments where they tend to give up big runs. Bogdanovic did his part by knocking down a late stepback 3-pointer that brought the Pistons within three late. His next attempt went wide, and Detroit couldn’t overcome five late turnovers in the fourth and too many empty possessions in the final minutes.

“We have to stay calm in these moments when we’re in those black holes that we have every game,” Bogdanovic said. “We were up seven, I think, and I hit a wide-open 3 on the left side to extend the lead up to 10, and then Georges Niang hit a 3 on the other side. We lose that energy and focus and then we allow them to go on another run. We gotta stay together and be more focused and slow the game down.”

Williams said earlier in the season that the initial plan was to play Bogdanovic with the first unit. He’s toyed with his lineups in search of a solution, and debuted a new one on Saturday with Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren. It’s unclear if Bogdanovic will eventually join the starters.

Detroit’s second unit couldn’t find a rhythm on Saturday — all of the starters had positive plus-minuses, and all five bench players finished in the negatives. Bogdanovic could give the unit an offensive lift. There were stretches on Tuesday where he sat on the bench with most of the starters, and the Pistons suffered in those minutes.

“Overall, we still had some timely turnovers and some possessions that didn’t look that great, where we couldn’t execute and get a shot,” Williams said. “That certainly hurt us. Look at the points we gave them on turnovers. You look at our defense tonight, I thought our defense was pretty good. The points we gave them off turnovers really hurt us. That’s something I have to figure out, the group coming into the game. We’ve got to get a bit more efficient with that group and make sure we get a shot and execute our stuff.”

Williams sees Bogdanovic as an extension of himself, thanks to his basketball smarts and the direction he gives his teammates on the sidelines and in practice. If that translates to the floor, perhaps the Pistons will find a way to break their streak.

But it’s not solely on Bogdanovic to fix the Pistons’ mistakes. It’s good to have him back, but the team will have to become more disciplined to enter the win column again.

“He’s the one guy that, outside of pretty much me, he can really coach guys up about things that matter,” Williams said. “And they take it well for him because I think they have respect for how he goes about his business. Obviously his skill, his competitive side. I think that it can have a great effect on us.

“As I said before, we still have to do certain things consistently to have great production on the floor — taking care of the ball, and fouling. That’s something that each player can control. And then being able to stay with our defense. I thought it was a lot better last game even though Brunson hit some crazy shots. I thought the defense was in a much better place and the edge of the team is in a better place. I don’t want to put all this pressure on Bogey to save the day. It has to be an unreal team effort.”