Detroit Pistons Fans Should Be Optimistic About The Offseason And Future
With news that the Detroit Pistons will once again be picking at #8 in the upcoming NBA Lottery, fans can finally look to the future for this team.
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They’ll have plenty of holes to fill come this season including what to do with that vacant Small Forward spot.
While the team does have holes to fill fans should still be optimistic for change this summer. They have plenty of building blocks in Andre Drummond, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Spencer Dinwiddie, and their draft pick.
With one more year under his belt Drummond still shows that he has legit superstar potential and Caldwell-Pope took huge strides in being a regular in the Pistons’ rotation. Dinwiddie proved that he can stick in the NBA and for a 2nd round pick, the Pistons should be excited for his potential.
With the emergence of Reggie Jackson and his talent down the stretch that’s another route that the Pistons can take. After all, he’s a Restricted Free Agent and the Pistons will have the last word on where he’ll play come the 2015-2016 NBA season.
The Pistons have tons of young talent to work off and that should make any fan excited. Coupled with Jackson’s youth this team has building blocks they can rely on to compete for an NBA title.
That’s why this off-season Pistons fans should be more hopeful than worried. They’ll get more and more young talent in the forms of draft picks and potentially free agency.
One thing to note is the amount of turnover the Pistons roster had this year. New guys like Anthony Tolliver and Jackson were brought in while others like Kyle Singler and (infamously) Josh Smith were shipped out.
There’s no doubt that this was how Team President/Head Coach Stan Van Gundy was shaping his own team. Instead of just inheriting the failures of the Pistons in recent years, he decided to switch things up.
He attempted to do this last year when he went for all the 3-point shooting he could get. He immediately signed guys like Jodie Meeks, Cartier Martin, and D.J. Augustin to help this team out.
Want another reason Pistons fans should be hopeful? Van Gundy won’t have the burden of the failure that was known as Josh Smith holding him down this year. He had to accommodate for him too many times last year.
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Rather ironically, releasing Smith also frees up some cap space this off-season because of the stretch provision. Van Gundy will have just a bit more money to work with this summer.
With that money this off-season, Van Gundy should look closely at 3-point shooting again. If he wants to work around both Jackson and Drummond the Pistons are going to need some more shooting, especially at the wings.
Jackson, with his career 29.4% from 3, makes him a liability from that area. That’s why there seemed to be spacing problems when he took the floor with Drummond and Greg Monroe. There just wasn’t enough space to work with down low.
Coupled with that reason and others, Monroe seems to be gone from this Pistons team. After years of losing and opting to take the qualified offer last summer Monroe just doesn’t seem like he’ll re-sign with the Pistons.
While there is definitely the chance he re-signs it’s hard to see Van Gundy aggressively pursue him this off-season. He’s been linked to teams like the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, and New York Knicks. Significantly bigger markets and franchises than the Pistons.
But the Pistons do have Monroe’s bird rights and crazier things have happened before. While the effects of Monroe re-signing for this team should be examined further it’s too far into the future to say anything.
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For now the Pistons and their fans should be excited for once entering the off-season. Van Gundy has one year under his belt of experience and that can be huge for the Pistons going forward.
One guy everyone seems to be forgetting is Brandon Jennings. While he did get injured he was playing some career-best basketball before he went down.
While he hopes to be back by August, if he can play a 6th man role for the Pistons that could be huge. Or if he could be a good competitor against Jackson in training camp and throughout the season it could motivate them both.
Jennings is entering a contract year and he’s still young enough to cash in on a big payday. The potential for him to play well is always there and that’s important to consider. With how good Van Gundy has been with his point guards Jennings has all the potential in the world to light the world on fire.
The Pistons have plenty of areas they can capitalize on whether it be through the draft or free agency. The Pistons and their fans should look at that as an opportunity to build off their youngsters and finally compete for a playoff spot, then an NBA championship.
Now, your thoughts. How do you feel about the draft pick and the off-season? Good? Bad? Terrible? Or do you think the Pistons need to do something else? Whatever the case, the Pistons are in a prime place to capitalize on their youth and talent this off-season.
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