A Taste
A Taste.
44 wins. A playoff appearance. Potential. Talent. A team.
When Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Bower took over the Pistons front office two summers ago, there was a common goal. “Win now, but don’t sacrifice the future”. That’s great and all, but how in the world are they going to bring in young talent without giving up any assets? Who is possibly going to give us young, capable starters for basically nothing? This is one of those things that seems much easier said than done.
Cue the Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Bower trade wizardry. I think it’s safe to say that they’ve won every trade they’ve made thus far, and it’s not even close. Let’s start off with the trade that wasn’t. Instead of trading Josh Smith to the Kings for a bunch of big salaries, we simply waived him and stretched his $14Million a year to keep financial flexibility going forward. Props to Tom Gores for his willingness to eat up that money.
Now let’s move on to the big trade that was; Reggie Jackson. Brandon Jennings goes down with a torn Achilles and now our future at the point guard position is muddier than ever. The trade deadline rolls around and we swoop in and get our future all star point guard for Kyle Singler (A decent bench player at best), D.J. Augustin (A very solid backup point guard, but replaceable), and two future second round picks. HOW? Because Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Bower capitalized on what was going on in OKC. Reggie Jackson was better than a backup point guard, and he knew it. Big win number one for our front office duo.
Next comes the diamond in the rough, Marcus Morris. Once again, being patient and capitalizing on another team’s misplaced priorities, the Pistons swooped in and acquired Marcus Morris and Reggie Bullock FOR A FUTURE SECOND ROUND PICK. Morris became our first legitimate starting small forward in years. The Suns were dumping salaries in an effort to sign free agent Lamarcus Aldridge. Woops. So now we’ve added two huge pieces of our core and have given up no real assets. None.
Finally comes the last big piece of the puzzle. Another trade deadline rolls around, and another great deal for the Pistons comes with it. We give up 2 expiring contracts in Brandon Jennings and Ersan Illyasova, for Tobias Harris. Harris could become a 20+ point a game scorer which is something we haven’t had in awhile. He is someone who can create his own shot and cut to the rim like no one else. I like the sound of that. He was a target of ours in the offseason, but was near impossible to get since he was a restricted free agent. So with a little patience, we got our guy anyways.
We have literally given up nothing of value, and now we have a young, very talented starting lineup. Three second round picks, two expiring contracts, two replaceable role players in exchange for three potential future all stars and a dangerous starting five.
Our starting five is now young, talented, and super versatile. Reggie Jackson (26 years old), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (23), Marcus Morris (26), Tobias Harris (24), and Andre Drummond (22). Don’t forget about the 20 year old Stanley Johnson who could possibly find his way into the starting lineup this year.
Our starting lineup was one of the best in the NBA last year, and they’re only getting better. Once Tobias Harris joined our starting unit, our record was 17-9. Over 82 games, that’s about 53 wins. And we did that with one of the worst benches in the NBA. Let me get this straight. If we went forward with the same exact roster we had (post Tobias Harris trade) for next season, we would potentially win around 53 games without changing a thing? Damn right, but that isn’t the case. The case is better.
WE NOW HAVE A BENCH! Last years bench rolled out Steve Blake, Stanley Johnson, Marcus Morris (with staggered minutes), Anthony Tolliver and Aron Baynes. I believe that Aron Baynes is a great backup center and that Stanley Johnson will have a breakout year this year. But the other components of our bench could use an upgrade, and that’s exactly what Stan and Jeff did.
Unfortunately, the great Steve Blake is no longer our backup point guard. (There is a lot of sarcasm hidden in that sentence). Ish Smith is our guy to run the bench ship now! Some may be be skeptical because Ish put up great numbers this season, about 15 points per game and 7 assists, but he did it with the 76ers. I understand the skepticism, and the 76ers resembled a D-League squad, but he single handedly won them games against real NBA teams. He’s played with Marcus Morris before, who called him his favorite teammate, and I believe we’re in for a treat with him.
Next comes the upgrade at our backup power forward spot. I genuinely enjoyed and appreciated Anthony Tolliver’s time here, and I wish we could’ve kept him around, but Jon Leuer is a clear upgrade in a few different ways. Jon has a much better all around offensive game since he’s able to stretch the floor and use his athleticism to get to the rim. His size also helps us out defensively when Tobias Harris just isn’t getting it done against different power forwards.
A few major bench upgrades and internal development are going to carry the Pistons into next year. We’re a young team but we now have a bit of playoff experience under our belts. Nothing accelerates young players’ growth better than a little bit of playoff basketball. We’ve tasted what it’s like to win games and make the playoffs, but now we want the whole damn meal.
