What Are the Detroit Pistons Doing?!?
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Overheard in the Pistons' draft room during this year's draft (probably):
Head Scout: It's our turn to pick, Stan, and I've got great news, Justi--
Stan Van Gundy: Stanley Johnson.
HS: But Justise Winslow is still avail--
SVG: Stanley Johnson.
HS: Yes, I know we were planning to take Johnson here but we didn't think Winslow would still be--
SVG: Stanley Johnson.
HS: But Winslow is better in every way, we should take--
SVG: Stanleeeeeeeeeeeeey Johnson.
HS: Stan, I think we're making a big mistake by passing on Winslow and--
SVG: Stanley, Stanley bo banley, banana fana fo fanley, fee fi mo manley, Stanley!
HS: Please, just listen to me for two secon--
SVG: StanleyJohnsonStanleyJohnsonStanleyJohnsonStanleyJohnsonStanleyJohnsonStanleyJohnson.
HS: I quit.
At least, that's how I like to picture it happening. To make things worse, after drafting Stanley Johnson, the Pistons sign the incredibly overrated Reggie Jackson to a five-year, $80 million contract. Maybe Stan Van Gundy should just stick to coaching, and hanging out with new best friend Stanley Johnson, obviously.
Reggie Jackson
Looking at Jackson's stats while playing with the Pistons shows that the massive contract he just signed is not that much of an overpay. He averaged 17.6 points, 9.2 assists, and 4.7 rebounds per game while starting all 27 games he played with Detroit. Unlike baseball, however, the stats do not tell the whole story. Jackson spent his first four seasons in the league playing behind Russell Westbrook, and you can tell. Jackson's first thought (and second, and possibly third) is to score, and he does this by aggressively attacking the basket. While he is a good athlete and decent finisher for his size, his drives are often out of control and lead to wild shots or turnovers. Which is why he averaged 3.5 turnovers per game and shot only 43.6% with the Pistons. He's also not a threat to shoot the three (29.4% career average) which would seem to be a problem on a Detroit team that wants to space the floor around Andre Drummond (It's a good thing Stanley Johnson can shoot really we--wait, nope, nevermind). Jackson's assist numbers are also misleading. Normally you would think that a point guard averaging 9.2 assists per game would be really good and you'd be happy with those numbers, Jackson's assists, however, often come from last resort passes. After dribbling the ball for 18 or 19 seconds, he passes the ball to a wing player who then has to shoot to avoid a shot clock violation. This obviously does count as an assist when they score, but Jackson is not creating these scoring opportunities for his teammates, in fact, I'd argue his teammates are creating the assists for Jackson. Not all of his assists come from this kind of "offense", obviously, and he developed a good on-court chemistry with Drummond, but $80 million for a player who's been a backup for four years and a starter for 27 games is an overpay (even the Kings think so).
Detroit let Greg Monroe walk in free agency, so they traded for Ersan Ilyasova to take over Monroe's starting spot. Ilyasova is a stretch four that will, ideally, give Drummond more room in the post (until Reggie Jackson blindly barrells into him before throwing the ball into the 7th row), which is the way SVG wants the Pistons to play. The Pistons also traded for Marcus Morris (the worse twin), Danny Granger, and Reggie Bullock. Marcus Morris is another stretch four (36% from three for career), Reggie Bullock probably won't play, and Danny Granger fills the super important washed up wing player role that opened up after Caron Butler got traded. Morris is probably the only one that will play on a regular basis, but he gives them a backup plan in case Ilyasova gets injured or forgets how to shoot, which is likely.
Brandon Jennings
The Pistons also still have Brandon Jennings under contract, and I'm not sure what they're going to do with him now that they've committed so much time and money to Jackson. Jennings was injured when Reggie Jackson got to the Pistons, so Jackson stepped right in to the starting point guard spot. I have to believe the Pistons intend to start Jackson since they just threw an insane amount of money at him, but Jennings was really good after the Pistons dumped Josh Smith, and if it was up to me (since the Pistons organization doesn't know I exist it seems unlikely that I'll get any say in this) I'd start Jennings and let Jackson dribble and shoot as much as he wants as a sixth man in bench-heavy lineups. This is the last year of Jennings contract, so if the Pistons can't figure out how to use Jennings and Jackson properly (hahahahaha...if) and they can't find a trade partner, then they'll just let Jennnings move on next summer and start the re-rebuild with Drummond and Jackson (and maybe Stanley Johnson? Maybe? Hopefully? Probably not).
Hey, you chose Stanley Johnson over Justise Winslow, not me
This Pistons team has young talent, but it is yet to be seen how that talent will gel. It's possible that Coach Van Gundy can rein Jackson in a little and get he and Jennings to play well together. Should that happen, and Drummond shows more improvement, the Pistons will look like a really promising team with a young core. It's also possible that Jennings is pushed to the bench and his game falls off a Reggie Jackson-shaped cliff, and Jackson struggles to run the team. Should that happen, the Pistons will look like a team in disarray that's nowhere close to getting back into playoff contention. I have faith in Stan Van Gundy, and the Pistons were one of the best franchises in the league less than ten years ago, but it's hard to find many positives in this Pistons off-season thus far.
