Target #3: Isaiah Stewart
By a lot of measures, Isaiah Stewart was one of the best and most versatile power forwards/small-ball centers in the association. Last year, Stewart placed in the 85th percentile in DEF EPM, was in the 66th percentile in block rate, the 72nd percentile in defensive rebounding rate (a telltale indicator of his motor and physicality), and he's super switchable.
Isaiah Stewart was directly involved in forcing 3 Trae Young TOs last night!! #Pistons
— Motor City Hoops (@MotorCityHoops) March 24, 2022
I know I am not the only one by any means but will continue to push the agenda of how switchable this young big man is!!! This first clip is 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/tKt7BuKrD6
Oh, and remember the statistic that DIFF% we cited earlier for Johnson? Stewart finished third of the 109 players who qualified as "starters" in that category.
Stewart's offensive game is what really hurts him and why the Detroit Pistons may be willing to hear offers for him. Yes, he's an improved shooter (38.5% from three last season). But it was on low volume (38th percentile). So, he's not really someone that defenses are going to change their approach to account for out on the perimeter.
He also isn't a great rim runner/lob threat (26th percentile in rim percentage among bigs, per Cleaning the Glass) or closeout attacker (48th percentile in drives efficiency and 13th percentile in drives volume).
But like we said with Finney-Smith, since they have DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis, Malik Monk, and De'Aaron Fox, the Kings have enough offensive firepower to make up for Stewart's shortcomings so that they can profit off of his Tenacious D.
The salary works on both sides for the Kings/Pistons to do a Huerter/Stewart swap. It also makes sense from an on-court perspective for each team. Huerter gives the Pistons some much-needed shooting/spacing (27th in 3-point attempts last season). Meanwhile, Stewart gives us size, physicality, and, most importantly, defense.