The addition of Tony Snell in a trade with the Bucks cleared the way for the rest of the Pistons‘ offseason moves, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. Milwaukee made Snell available in June to free up money to re-sign other players. Detroit, which was in the market for a small forward after moving Reggie Bullock and Stanley Johnson at the trade deadline, was happy to accept, getting the final first-round pick of this year’s draft as well in exchange for Jon Leuer.
Snell, who has played three seasons each with the Bulls and Bucks, comes to Detroit in the prime of his career. He’s a 3-and-D wing player who has taken 57% of his career shots from behind the arc. He’s in line for a starting role after averaging 6.0 PPG in 74 games last season.
Getting Snell in a trade enabled the Pistons to use their cap-exception money to address other areas. They added depth at point guard by signing Derrick Rose and Tim Frazier, then upgraded their frontcourt with the addition of veteran power forward Markieff Morris.
There’s more from Detroit:
- Signing Morris may help reduce the workload on Blake Griffin, Langlois adds in a separate story. With no effective back-up at power forward, Griffin averaged 35.0 minutes in 75 games last season, a risky burden for someone with a long injury history. Morris’ numbers dipped last year because of a neck injury that sidelined him for six weeks, but before that he had five straight seasons of averaging at least 25 minutes per night.
- The Pistons didn’t see much of Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk after acquiring him from the Lakers in February, but his shooting could make him part of the rotation, according to Ansar Khan of MLive. The 22-year-old played just three games for Detroit before suffering a broken left index finger that required surgery. The Pistons need 3-point shooters, and Mykhailiuk was lethal from long range in college. He had a strong showing in the Summer League, and coach Dwane Casey has praised his athleticism and toughness, as well as his shot. “I think everybody knows I’m a pretty good shooter, so definitely spacing the floor, creating my own shot and just help whatever they need me to do and just play hard and make the right plays,” Mykhailiuk said.
- Are the Pistons headed for the playoffs? Vote in our poll.
The east is better than people think it’s pistons vs magic I think Detroit gets it if everyone is healthy
No it isn’t. There are only 5 legitimate teams in the east: Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Boston, Toronto, and Indiana. The other 10 wouldn’t even be close to making the postseason if they were in the Western Conference.
I think both of what your saying is true. Yes there is only 5 teams that would compete and make the playoffs in the west but the east is competive for the bottom 3 spots for the playoffs.
With improving teams like the
Hawks (drafted Reddish and Hunter)
Heat (Dragic, Butler, Winslow and young players)
Nets (got Irving, LeVert, Durant, Allen, Jordan and etc)
Pistons (recruited well and have twin towers)
Magic (Fournier Vuce Gordan and young players)