In his first game with the Detroit Pistons, playing just eighteen minutes, John Henson outdid anything that he did while he was in Cleveland by making six out of six shots and scoring twelve points. His previous season high was ten points. Is Cleveland that much worse than Detroit where players who go from one to the other magically get significantly better (or worse if going the other direction)? If so, I hate to see what kind of stats Andre Drummond is gonna put up as a Cavalier. Probably 13/10 on 34% shooting in 45 MPG.
I suppose the real reason that Henson was “unleashed” here (unleashed is a strong word to use when somebody scores only twelve points, but to hell with it, I’m leaving it) is because he was stuck behind Tristan Thompson in Cleveland. Since Henson is just a worse version of Thompson (shaky jumper, scores most points by doing wonky hook shots and flailing layups), he didn’t provide anything that wasn’t already being provided by other players on the roster. Since the Pistons need any bigs they can get, his role in Detroit will necessarily be bigger.
Now that Henson and Thon Maker are happily reunited, the Pistons can run out the never-feared but often-mocked “Twin Stick Figures” lineup with Henson at PF and Maker at C. That lineup would have no ability to prevent the other team from getting any rebound they wanted, and they wouldn’t be able to score very well unless an elite point guard were running the show (why did the Pistons waive Tim Frazier, again?), but it would be funny to watch. I’d specifically watch Pistons games if Dwane Casey promised that the Twin Stick Figures would play six minutes together at the start of the second quarter.