NBA Season Preview: Detroit Pistons

Written by Brendon Donohoe

Welcome to our NBA season preview. Leading up to the first game of the NBA season, we will be counting down every team in the NBA.  Next up, the Detroit Pistons.

25) Detroit Pistons

2014-2015 Record: 32-50

Roster Breakdown

• Key Offseason Additions: Marcus Morris (Trade), Ersan Elyasova (Trade), Stanley Johnson (Draft), Darrun Hilliard (Draft), Aron Baynes (FA), Reggie Bullock (Trade)
• Key Offseason Losses: Greg Monroe, Caron Butler

So before I break down the roster I think we need to discuss something. Greg Monroe is gone, and that’s sort of fine. He was restricted and talented, but he was going to be overpaid. Now if you have a smart plan (keyword smart) to invest the money elsewhere, then I can understand the reasoning. However, if you were never planning on resigning him, then why not trade him? Why not get assets instead of just throwing a good asset away? Lastly, and most importantly, WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU USE ALL OF THAT MONEY ON REGGIE JACKSON. Not only is that $80M contract ludicrous, the Pistons were literally betting against themselves. Not a single team was going to come in close to that amount. So why? Just, Why?

Hold on, let me compose myself. Ok. Roster breakdown. At point guard is the $80M dollar man himself, Reggie Jackson. I actually do like Reggie a lot, but he has not shown me any reason why he is worth $16M a year. He is a good scorer, a decent ball distributor, and has an endless amount of confidence. Reggie is also a terrible defender, and makes some very questionable shots. Similar to Damian Lillard, except not as good. Not to mention, Brandon Jennings will come back from injury a month into the season. Jennings was really good before he got hurt last year. The Reggie Jackson situation dumbfounds me. Moving on, at shooting guard is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who really needs to show something in his third year. Caldwell-Pope has been a bit of a disappointment since being drafted 8^th overall, and if he doesn’t show a serious improvement this year, I don’t think he will ever live up to those lofty expectations. At small forward is Marcus Morris, or as you may now him, the lesser Morris brother. He has never been all that good, and small forward isn’t even his primary position, so don’t put much stock into him becoming a quality small forward for this team. At the 4 is Ersan Ilyasova, who might actually have a career year on this team…….or post career lows. I don’t see much of a middle ground for Ilyasova here. Either Ilyasova’s skill set will mesh perfectly with Drummond’s, or Ilyasova continues his trend of decline. Speaking of which, Andre Drummond will enter the season once again as the starting center. Drummond is already the team’s most valuable player, and his value will only grow this season. With Monroe gone, and Ilysova in, Drummond will have to take his defensive game up a notch to cover for Ilysova’s poor defense. Drummond will also have to improve his offensive game, specifically his horrendous free throw shooting. If he can at least improve his free throw shooting from horrendous to just bad, then the season will have been a personal success for Drummond.

The Pistons bench has some bright spots, but it leans more to being a complete mess than a solid backup unit. The first big man off the bench will be Aron Baynes, who had some success coming off the bench for the Spurs last year. Baynes appears like a good pickup, but whether or not he is just a product of the Spurs system is yet to be seen. After Baynes is Anthony Tolliver, who isn’t a bad option off the bench, just not a particularly good one. After those two is Cartier Martin and Joel Anthony, who are just kind of there because why not. At small forward is the team’s first round pick, Stanley Johnson, who might have the brightest future on the team, outside of Drummond. I fully expect Johnson to start at small forward at some point, because you know, Marcus Morris isn’t a small forward. Reggie Bullock will line up behind Johnson, as Bullock hopes his third team will be the charm. Bullock has potential, but I’m not sure he will ever be able to put the pieces together. The backup shooting guard situation is a bit of a mess. Jodie Meeks is a decent backup, but is very much overpaid. As for Darrun Hilliard, I don’t think he will even be in the league 3 years from now. Last is point guard, which is easily the most interesting reserve position on this team. Steve Blake has been a great backup point guard his entire career, but he is getting old. One of the years, Blake is going to hit a wall and this may be the year. Spencer Dinwiddie secretly has some potential, and I look forward to seeing if he will take another step forward this year. Finally, we have Brandon Jennings, which leads me into my next topic……

Question on Everyone’s Mind?

What are the Pistons going to do with Brandon Jennings?

Brandon Jennings was a huge bright spot for this team after the Josh Smith trade. He wasn’t just the scoring, ball-hog point guard we had all come to know. He was a well-rounded point guard, and then he got hurt. With him out, the Pistons opted to just get a permanent replacement in Reggie Jackson. With Jackson locked into a long big money contract, there is no going back to Jennings. Two options are on the table. Hold on to him for the year, or trade him. Obviously the better option is to get an asset for him. The only way I would recommend keeping Jennings is if he makes you a playoff team, or he is so bad that the only way to get rid of him is by giving up assets. Odds are, neither of those two things will happen, so trade him. Pistons may get something as little as a second round pick, or as much as a youngster with potential. Regardless, Jennings will most likely be traded before the deadline.

Season Outlook

The popular opinion is that this team will make a playoff push, but I happen to not be one of those people. I think this team is going to struggle due to weak starters at the two and three, and having a sub-par bench. Reggie Jackson will be good, just not $80M good, Stan Van Gundy will keep his job (though he shouldn’t make any more personnel decisions), Stanley Johnson will start at some point due to how bad Marcus Morris will be, Andre Drummond will make his first all-star game, and Jennings will be traded in three team trade that will involve Markieff Morris coming to Detroit.

Las Vegas Over/Under – 33.5

Prediction – Under with 30, finishing 13th in the East

Check out the other installments of our NBA season preview.

30) Philadelphia 76ers

29) Brooklyn Nets

28) Minnesota Timberwolves

27) Portland Trail Blazers