Offseason In Review: Detroit Pistons
Over the next several weeks, Hoops Rumors will be breaking down the 2016 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, revisiting the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll evaluate each team’s moves from the last several months and look ahead to what the 2016/17 season holds for all 30 franchises. Today, we’re focusing on the Detroit Pistons.
Free agent signings:
- Andre Drummond: Five years, $127.171MM. Maximum salary contract. Fifth year player option.
- Jon Leuer: Four years, $41MM.
- Boban Marjanovic: Three years, $21MM. Signed to offer sheet; Spurs didn’t match.
- Ish Smith: Three years, $18MM.
Camp invitees:
- Trey Freeman: One year, minimum salary (no guarantee)
- Nikola Jovanovic: One year, minimum salary ($30K guaranteed)
- Ray McCallum: One year, minimum salary (summer contract)
Trades:
- Acquired Cameron Bairstow from the Bulls in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie. Subsequently waived Bairstow.
- Acquired a 2019 second-round pick from the Magic in exchange for Jodie Meeks.
Draft picks:
- 1-18: Henry Ellenson. Signed to rookie contract.
- 2-49: Michael Gbinije. Signed for three years, $2.606MM. Second year partially guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed.
Departing players:
Other offseason news:
- Reggie Jackson to miss six to eight weeks due to knee and thumb injuries.
- Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Bullock eligible for contract extensions until October 31. Pistons have engaged in extension discussions with both players.
- Reportedly met with Al Horford during free agency.
Check out our salary cap snapshot for the Detroit Pistons right here.
When Stan Van Gundy evaluated the Pistons organization after becoming their head coach and president of basketball operations, one of his first orders of business was to beef up the scouting staff. That wasn’t limited to college and international scouting. He wanted scouts closely monitoring every NBA game and identifying players who could fill a need on his club.
That decision has led to a nearly complete overhaul of the roster, with only two players — center Andre Drummond and starting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope — surviving the purge. They added two starters during the last two trade deadlines, acquiring point guard Reggie Jackson from the Thunder and combo forward Tobias Harris from the Magic.
Armed with the evaluations from their scouts, Van Gundy and GM Jeff Bower drew up a shopping list this offseason that included three major items. They wanted a bigger power forward, a backup point guard and a third center who could eventually play a larger role.
Ideally, they would have checked off boxes 1 and 3 with the same player. They were one of a handful of clubs who landed a meeting with coveted free agent Al Horford. The Pistons felt Horford’s defensive versatility and shooting range would complement Drummond’s interior prowess. Alas, Horford opted to go to a club he felt was closer to championship contender and signed with the Celtics.
In the meantime, the Pistons quickly landed one of the point men they coveted in Ish Smith. He was one of three point guards, along with former Piston D.J. Augustin and Ramon Sessions, on the wish list. Detroit’s offense stalled the second half of last season when aging Steve Blake entered the game for Jackson. The Pistons included Brandon Jennings in the Harris deal, leaving them thin at point guard.
According to the Pistons’ analytics, Smith is one of the top pick-and-roll point guards in the league. Detroit relies heavily on pick-and-rolls, making him an ideal backup to Jackson. Smith will have an even bigger role at the start of the season, replacing Jackson in the lineup while Jackson recovers from knee tendinitis and a thumb injury.
“What you want with all of your backups, one of the things you ask is can those guys start,” Van Gundy said. “You can’t look at somebody and say he’s OK as a 16-, 18-minute a game guy because it can quickly become more than that. The fact he has that experience and did well (with the Sixers last season), yeah, that’s a big thing.”
The Pistons surprised some people by handing journeymen Jon Leuer a rich four-year, $41MM deal but they view him as a rotation player who can back up Harris and also play center in smaller lineups. Leuer not only provides more size that last year’s backup, Anthony Tolliver, he’s also more brings more offensive versatility than Tolliver, who was mainly a 3-point shooter.
When Horford struck the Pistons off his list, the deal with Leuer was finalized.
“Once Al made his decision, it was, ‘OK, let’s figure out how we can get this done,’ ” Leuer said. “We actually came to an agreement before he even landed, so it was more of a celebratory lunch than a meeting.”
Detroit went big, really big, to secure the final item on their shopping list. They structured a three-year offer sheet to restricted free agent Boban Marjanovic that they knew the Spurs would almost certainly not match. The 7’3” Marjanovic doesn’t have the agility defensively to play heavy minutes but can be a matchup nightmare for opponents because of his low-post skills. He also provides insurance in case second-string center Aron Baynes opts out of his contract after this season.
Another under-the-radar signing that could pay some dividends was handing Ray McCallum a non-guaranteed contract. McCallum could back up Smith the first month of the season if he wins a preseason battle with fellow point man Lorenzo Brown for a roster spot.
Prior to all those moves, the Pistons were pleased how the draft unfolded. Outside the lottery for a change, the Pistons weren’t expecting to get an immediate contributor at pick No. 18. They did get a pleasant surprise when power forward Henry Ellenson fell into their lap.
Van Gundy was so sure that Ellenson wouldn’t be available at their pick that he barely watched any film on the Marquette University product. The Big East Rookie of the Year will spend this season developing but could push for a rotation spot as early as next season.
The only other order of business this preseason is whether to sign Caldwell-Pope to a rookie-scale extension. There has been no signs in camp thus far that they’re close to an agreement.
If the Pistons had somehow convinced Horford to come their way, they could have been lumped among the next tier of Eastern Conference teams behind the Cavaliers. With the help of those scouts, the Pistons did add much-needed depth by signing some unheralded free agents. Whether that’s enough to get them past the first round of the playoffs this season remains a big question mark.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photo courtesy of Raj Mehta (USA Today Sports Images).
Pistons Notes: I. Smith, Offseason Targets, Backup PG
Ish Smith was one of the top three point guard targets identified by the Pistons when free agency got underway this summer, according to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press, who writes that the club was also eyeing D.J. Augustin and Ramon Sessions. Detroit may have had some interest in Brandon Jennings as well, but there are signals that interest wasn’t reciprocated, per Ellis. In any case, it was Smith who ended up becoming a Piston, and now the team will be leaning on him heavily to start the season. With Reggie Jackson sidelined for six to eight weeks, Smith will move into the starting lineup at the point, and as Ellis details, he’s confident he’ll be able to step up for the club.
- James Hawkins of The Detroit News passes along a few Pistons notes, including the latest on Ray McCallum and Lorenzo Brown battling for the backup point guard role
Popovich Encouraged Boban To Accept Offer Sheet
Only one restricted free agent in the NBA this season technically signed an offer sheet with a rival team that his previous team didn’t match. That player was Boban Marjanovic, who left the Spurs to sign a three-year, $21MM deal with the Pistons. And according to Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News, it took a push from head coach Gregg Popovich for Marjanovic to accept that offer, since his first choice was to remain with the Spurs.
“He’s such a good kid, at some point I had to work to get him to understand that $21 million was different than $3 million,” Popovich said, per McDonald. “I said, ‘Get your ass out of here. Go. You’ve got to do it.’ But he felt bad.”
“We knew he was gone,” Popovich added. “It happens to every team. You lose a guy because you have to pay people and you can’t pay them all.”
The Spurs used up their cap room this summer when they signed Pau Gasol to a two-year contract, leaving the team unable to match the Pistons’ offer for Marjanovic. San Antonio could have used its room exception to retain the restricted free agent, but as Popovich notes, such a deal would have only paid about $3MM per year, far less than Detroit offered.
In his rookie season with the Spurs, Marjanovic averaged 5.5 PPG and 3.6 RPG, despite appearing in just 9.4 minutes per contest (54 games). Based on the contract he received from Detroit, the 28-year-old figures to have a more significant role with his new team. While he admits that he would have liked to remain a Spur, Marjanovic says he thinks he “made a good decision” to sign with the Pistons, per McDonald.
Brown, McCallum Battling For One Spot
- Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy does not plan to carry both Lorenzo Brown and Ray McCallum on his opening-day roster, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com reports. Brown and McCallum are locked in a training-camp battle to back up point guard Ish Smith with starter Reggie Jackson sidelined the first month of the season by knee tendinitis. Neither one has a guaranteed contract. “It’s not going to be an easy decision,” Van Gundy told Langlois. “The way we’d love to start the year is to have them both because you want three point guards. But to do that, we’d actually have to cut somebody on a guaranteed contract. I don’t foresee that.”
Reggie Jackson Officially Out 6 to 8 Weeks
The Pistons formally announced today that starting point guard Reggie Jackson will be out of action for six to eight weeks, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com.
Jackson has been diagnosed with a UCL strain in his right thumb and tendinosis in his left knee. He received platelet-rich plasma injections in both the thumb and the knee today.
The timeline for Jackson’s return matches what coach/executive Stan Van Gundy projected over the weekend. Jackson is expected to be on crutches for up to a week following the injections.
The knee started bothering Jackson in September, tweets Keith Langlois of NBA.com. At first, Jackson thought he could play through the pain, but it didn’t get any better once camp opened. He hadn’t planned to take care of the thumb now, but it made sense while he was sidelined because of the knee (Twitter link).
Jackson’s earliest projected return would bring him to mid-November, which means he would miss about 10 games. Ish Smith, whom the Pistons signed as a free agent over the summer, is expected to be the starting point guard until Jackson is healthy enough to take over.
Pistons Notes: Ellenson, Smith, Jackson, Morris
First-round pick Henry Ellenson has impressed coach/executive Stan Van Gundy enough to earn significant preseason playing time, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. It’s an unusual accomplishment for a rookie, but the 19-year-old power forward has gotten the attention of coaches and teammates with how quickly he has adapted to the NBA game. “He is the perfect stretch four,” said Ish Smith. “Henry can shoot it, he can drive it, he can make plays and he’s a sponge. He does so many things out there. When Coach asks him to do things one time, he does it the next time and he doesn’t make the same mistakes. Henry has a fan in me and he’s going to give me a lot of assists. Henry can shoot the ball.” Despite the glowing reviews, Van Gundy noted that the Pistons already have Marcus Morris, Tobias Harris and Jon Leuer in place, so it may be hard for Ellenson to get minutes once the season starts.
There’s more today out of Detroit:
- The Pistons targeted Smith in free agency because of his experience as a starter, and that wound up paying off sooner than they expected, Langlois writes in a separate story. Smith will be counted on to hold down the starting role while Reggie Jackson tries to work through the tendinitis in his left knee. The Pistons said Jackson will miss “extended time,” which Van Gundy later clarified as six to eight weeks. “We need Reggie back, a speedy recovery,” Smith said. “But we have to do our job. Everybody’s getting paid, so we have to do our job and do what it takes to win those games while he’s out. Somebody has to step up. It is a different kind of feel, but I don’t want to overthink it. I just want to play and let the chips fall where they may.”
- Statistics suggest that replacing Jackson will be a difficult task, notes John Schuhmann of NBA.com. Jackson ran the pick-and-roll more than anyone else in the league last season, and his unique skills helped to make it successful.
- Morris needed a season of adjustment after being traded from the Suns to the Pistons, but he has become one of the team’s vocal leaders, according to Rod Beard of The Detroit News. That role came partially through his play, as Morris averaged 14.1 points and 5.1 rebounds per game during his first season in Detroit. But it was also a matter of getting accustomed to his new surroundings. “It’s certainly noticeable that he’s talking more,” Van Gundy said. “We were just getting to know him last year, so we weren’t prodding him toward leadership and now he’s one of, if not the most respected guys in that locker room. Now he knows we want that from him.”
Latest On Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson has battled tendinitis in his left knee for years and it was recently reported that Jackson may miss “extended time” because of the issue. Today, the team has a slightly better grasp on the timeline after announcing that Jackson will have a platelet-rich plasma injection on Monday, Rod Beard of The Detroit News relays.
“He will get the PRP injection in New York on Monday,” Coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said. “I haven’t gotten the timetable but it’s a significant amount of time. He’ll be on crutches for three to seven days.”
Jackson could return in mid-to-late November, which would sideline him for somewhere between 10 and 20 games, Beard notes. Jackson previously had the treatment in 2011. According to Beard, it has the longest recovery time of all the options, but it’s the best chance at of relieving pain for an extended period.
The Pistons are reportedly exploring the market for point guard help, but Van Gundy said he was comfortable with new addition Ish Smith starting in Jackson’s place.
Pistons Had Interest In Norris Cole
- As the Pistons consider potential point guard options with Reggie Jackson ailing, they took a look at Norris Cole before he agreed to sign in China, writes Stein. Steve Blake, given his familiarity with the team, is also an option. However, as the ESPN scribe cautions – and as Stan Van Gundy said himself this week – the Pistons are no lock to add another player at the point, since the club would have to eat a guaranteed contract to do so.
[SOURCE LINK]
Reggie Jackson Could Still Play Regular Season Opener
- Within his latest Pistons mailbag at NBA.com, Keith Langlois says he’d be “willing to wager” that Reggie Jackson will be in the club’s starting lineup on opening night of the regular season. There have been indications that Jackson could miss six to eight weeks of action, but that’s viewed as a worst-case scenario.
- Aaron McMann of MLive.com takes a look at Pistons camp invitee Trey Freeman, who recently had a workout for the coaching staff of the Grand Rapids Drive and could end up with Detroit’s D-League affiliate if he doesn’t make the team’s 15-man roster.
Community Shootaround: Pistons’ PG Situation
Last week, one Central division team faced some uncertainty at its point guard spot, when the Cavaliers received news of Mo Williams‘ decision to retire, which left the team with just Kyrie Irving and Kay Felder at the point. Cleveland subsequently signed Toney Douglas to provide veteran depth, and now one of their division rivals is facing similar questions at the same position.
Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy revealed today that Reggie Jackson, who is dealing with knee tendinitis and a bone bruise, could miss up to six to eight weeks of action. According to Van Gundy, Jackson is considering treatment options and will make a decision soon (Twitter link via Keith Langlois of Pistons.com). If the point guard undergoes platelet-rich plasma therapy, his recovery timetable would be in that six-to-eight-week range, but it’s possible he’ll be back before then.
Faced with the possibility of being without Jackson for the first few weeks of the regular season, the Pistons are exploring their options. However, Van Gundy said today that it’s unlikely the team would cut one of its young players to add another point guard to provide short-term coverage (Twitter link via Langlois). He added that a trade is also unlikely, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News (Twitter link).
Still, without Jackson, the Pistons are somewhat thin at the point. Ish Smith would move into the starting role, with someone like Ray McCallum, Lorenzo Brown, or Trey Freeman potentially backing him up. McCallum and Brown are both on non-guaranteed deals, so if the team wanted to keep both players for depth purposes, it would mean waiving a player with a guaranteed contract, as Van Gundy noted today (Twitter link via Vincent Ellis of The Detroit Free Press).
Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net hears that Mario Chalmers and Steve Blake are among the players the free agents the Pistons are considering. Kendall Marshall, Andre Miller, and Kirk Hinrich are also available, and Van Gundy said that the team is keeping an eye on players on other rosters who may be cut before the regular season (Twitter link via Ellis).
What do you think the Pistons should do to address the point guard position, if anything? Are their in-house options fine, or should they add a free agent? If they sign someone, which player would be the best fit? Are Jackson’s knee issues worrisome enough that they should consider adding a veteran guard for the season, rather than for just a few weeks?
Take to the comments section below to weigh in and share your thoughts on the Pistons’ point guard situation.