Pistons Notes: Roster Turnover, New Arena, Leuer

The Pistons had the chance to bring back the core of their 2016/17 squad this offseason, but elected to swap continuity for the possibility of a better situation, Keith Langlois of NBA.com explains.

Detroit has undergone serious roster turnover since executive/coach Stan Van Gundy arrived in town with only one player — Andre Drummond — remaining on the roster from the team which Van Gundy inherited. This summer, the franchise had the opportunity to bring back Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and allow the core time to gel. However, by letting KCP walk, trading for Avery Bradley and carving out a bigger role for Stanley Johnson, the team will for the third straight season try to incorporate new pieces.

Langlois believes the team’s offseason moves will allow the Pistons to become more diverse on the offensive end as well as remain flexible in the accounting department. Had the organization inked KCP to a long-term deal, it would have been meant approaching or surpassing the luxury tax and it would have created difficulties if the team needed any substantial changes. As it stands, Detroit has a season to evaluate how Johnson progresses and Bradley fits before making a decision on capping out the roster.

Here’s more from Detroit:

  • The Pistons are set to move downtown to a new arena next season, though they may face one last hurdle in their efforts to do so. Christine Ferretti of The Detroit News reports.  A small group filed a lawsuit against the City of Detroit over the $34.5MM in public funding which will go to the new arena.
  • Jon Leuer made several changes this offseason as he prepares for his second season with the Pistons, relays Langlois in a separate story. He focused more than ever on three-point shooting and has decided to continue to vigorously lift weights through the season to counter last year’s decline in productivity after the All-Star break. “I lift really hard in the off-season and preseason and that keeps my weight up and keeps me stronger. Jordan was saying there’s even a testosterone boost when you lift more, so I think that’s something toward the end of the season I’ll be conscious of to hopefully maintain a high level of play,” said Leuer. Van Gundy says that he views Leuer as a starter, but that he will have plenty of choices at power forward.
  • For everything Pistons, check out the team page.
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