Young core. Fresh start — It’s time to pay attention to the Pistons
A brief reminder of GM Troy Weaver’s great work
Last year Detroit hired Troy Weaver to become the General Manager — promising “big moves” in the draft, and a strategic reshuffle of the roster to develop a young core.
Despite Motown’s wishes, the Pistons fell short in reaching its predicted 4th pick, sliding down to 7th in the NBA draft, selecting Killian Hayes (ahead of Tyrese Halliburton and Cole Anthony). With a season-ending injury, Hayes was unable to showcase his potential — with a lackluster performance of 4.6 points and 3.6 assists, in his 21 minutes per game.
However, with only seven games played, it’s too early to judge his potential — think of guards like Gary Payton or Jimmy Butler — they started poorly but developed over time. Despite his performance, there were bright-spots in Killian’s court-vision when dishing out lobs to Mason Plumlee, and his 3pt shot was promising with step-backs that resembled Harden’s form.
His sideline placed the limelight on Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart, who have made a name for themselves in their first year. Among rookies, Isaiah Stewart is ranked #17 in points per game, and Saddiq Bey at #11 — which seems promising, but unimpressive.
Upon closer inspection, the picture is brighter. It just so happens that Casey has been underplaying our young core. Although rookies like Haliburton have 29 minutes per game to showcase their talents, Bey and Stewart average under 20. If we view per 36 minutes Stats (which adjusts performance to playing time) — Halliburton scores 14.7 a game while Bey gets 15.2. Better than this, per 36 minutes, Stewart averages over 10 rebounds per game, and even when battling for minutes with Plumlee and Blake, he has managed to rank #3 in average rookie rebounds, despite being drafted at 16.
Writer’s Side-note: It’s 9:44 pm on a Friday night, third quarter against the Boston Celtics, and Bey has a whopping 24 points and 9 rebounds. Made me remember the other night against the Suns, where Stewart dropped a double-double in 24 minutes. Let’s not forget, Stewart is 19 years old.
Another young forward who hasn’t received enough minutes is Sekou Doumboya. In drafting and adding players around the PF/SF position (Plumlee, Grant, Josh Jackson, Blake), Sekou’s minutes are low. Perhaps this is explained by his lack of production, averaging 4ppg and less than 3 rebounds in 13 minutes of play. A silver lining, however, is that he is still 20 years old, and there were promising games from last season — dropping 24 against the Celtics, and 11 rebounds against the Clippers. It is also worthwhile to re-watch his athleticism when dunking over Tristan Thompson in January of last year.
Moving on, Weaver made 3 other moves of which I am very proud of. Firstly, he regained two top-10 picks from the 2017 NBA draft. Josh Jackson, who is 23 years old, is shooting well above 40% in field goals and scores an average of 12.6 points in 24 minutes. In the last matchup against the Lakers, he tallied a surprising total of 28 points.
Dennis Smith Jr has just joined the Pistons from the Knicks (traded for D.Rose). Although his first two matchups didn’t hint at stardom, his tone and posture showed promise. He claimed to have been smiling all the way through his phone-call when informed about the Detroit trade. On the flight, he watched a Bad-Boys documentary and claimed that throughout the last few seasons, he would often text our newly acquired Josh Jackson to praise and support him. He’s happy to be here, and that matters in Detroit.
Although Rose was a fan-favorite and a promising mentor to our young-core, his contract was expiring, and it was better spent as leverage for a pick and a player. Below is a quote from his conversation with Coach Casey.
“Coach, I’ve only got so many miles left in my legs. I want to make sure I go to a situation where I may have a chance to make the playoffs this year. I know where you guys are, rebuilding and retooling. And I just want to go where they have a chance to make the playoffs.”
With a second-round pick and Dennis Smith Jr, the Pistons had nothing to lose in gaining a player who averaged 15ppg in his rookie season. Moreover, Rose’s absence will continue to shine the light on Delon Wright, who has impressed Pistons fans since his arrival, close to averaging a solid 10–5–5 season with 28 minutes of play.
What makes me happiest, however, is that all of these players have reasonable contracts. Plumlee and Wright are starters who average just below their average-position-pay, with a respective 8 and 9 million dollar contract. In fact, there are only two players in the Pistons who average more than 10 million a year: Grant (20 million) and Griffin (38 million).
Over time, the Pistons will have more trade-leverage when approaching the deadline. Wayne Ellington’s “cheap” 2.5 million dollar salary is a worthy investment for contending teams — especially when averaging 47% at the three-point-line.
The Piston's sluggishness in scoring has allowed Grant to become a MIP candidate and an All-Star contender. Our rebuild process is expected to take more than three years, which is the duration of his contract. Grant’s commitment to the Pistons can either mold him as a franchise player or as a promising trade-offer down the line. Either scenario is positive.
Update to the Authors Side-Note: It is now 10:39 pm and Bey has dropped 30 points and 13 rebounds in 27 minutes. He is the only rookie to have scored 7/7 three-pointers in a game — in all of NBA history.
In the NBA, you have to perform poorly to rebuild to succeed — it takes patience, culture, and player development: not just cash (thankfully it isn’t like La Liga or Ligue 1). This has been made evident in the move to the city, away from Auburn Hills. The Pistons have also expanded their part in charitable community efforts and have employed Big Sean as a creative director, increasing an overall sense of culture. Although we are still one of the lowest valued NBA franchises, owner Tom Gores has done a decent effort to increase the team's value. Nonetheless, Gores has made regrettable management decisions with Joe Dumars and Van Gundy. Here’s a brief reminder of them:
*(missing out on Carmelo Anthony, Donovan Mitchell, Marc Gasol, Jrue Holiday, Gordon Hayward, Paul George, Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Devin Booker, and more!)
After the 04 championships, the Pistons were sunk in a deep pit of mediocracy, buried with terrible draft picks*. To make matters worse, the Pistons have had almost 10 years of overpaid contracts, by extending Rip Hamilton’s, overpaying Josh Smith, handing out 10 million dollar contracts to John Leuer. To add insult to injury, when trying to form a big-3 with Tobias Harris, Reggie Jackson, and Drummond, it was clear that it would not become a winning team, yet we still managed to overpay for a mediocre season-record and mediocre picks.
Weaver has finally allowed us to embrace the tank.
While Blake, Wright, Ellington, and Plumlee mentor the young core, we have the 2017 under-dogs (DSJ and Jackson) who have yet to prove themselves, two drastically underrated rookies in Bey and Stewart, and a promising future to our young French duo. With the worst record in the NBA, the Pistons might just get their first number one pick since Bob Lanier in 1970. We may have lost Wood, but that painted a picture of what Detroit can make out of Grant.
It seems like OKC’s excellent management is still seen in Weaver’s aggressive rebuild, which has consistently shown a commitment to a young-core and defensive-versatility. As a bright light at the end of the tunnel, Bey, Stewart, Jackson, and Grant have shown grit and passion in their play. Pistons fans, pay attention — we finally got our fresh start.