Detroit Pistons: Who should be the face of the team?

After an offseason filled with a complete franchise overhaul for the Detroit Pistons, who is going to be the face for this downtown Detroit team?

This upcoming season is going to look a lot different for the Detroit Pistons. They will be playing in downtown Detroit, have a fresh batch of Nike jerseys, a new logo, and some new key players.

With all of this change, the Pistons a player to match the team’s identity, so let’s look into who these options could be.

Reggie Jackson

After his first full season with the Pistons, the team looked like it was Reggie Jackson’s to lose. And after a rough year last season, he did lose it. From the players meeting to ending the season relegated to bench duty, Jackson had a bad season.

But everything could change this year. Jackson should start the year healthy, which wasn’t the case last year. He’s also become one of the longest tenured Pistons after all the changes over the past few years. A strong start, along with being the point guard (which I think gives automatic bonus points) could easily lead to Jackson getting the team back behind him.

Andre Drummond

Andre Drummond is the player many have hoped to be the face of the franchise for awhile now. Since Stan Van Gundy came in, he’s really built this roster around a player of Drummond’s skillset. He’s the only player with an All-Star selection, and at 24 years-old, still has a lot of potential. He’s the highest paid player on the team, and though not directly correlated, it still matters.

The biggest knocks on Drummond are the fact that he hasn’t spoken up yet and his position. As a center, it’s also hard to be the face as he’s not as flashy as guards or wings. Because of this, he needs to speak up more and be a leader in games. It’s tough to do that when he’s finishing games on the bench due to free throw worries though. Even so, seeing Drummond energetic at the end of games, whether he’s on the court or not, would be huge for his case.

Tobias Harris

Tobias Harris has a lot of what it takes to be the face of the franchise. Unfortunately, the team is holding him back. He’s young, a great scorer and still has All-Star potential. Yet last season, Van Gundy decided he was better suited with the second unit for most of the year. I think that may have hurt both Tobias and the team, as he should have been the team’s top scoring option throughout the year.

Tobias seems to be becoming a fan favorite this past offseason. I think if he breaks out this year and gets into that All-Star consideration then this team is his for the foreseeable future. The only question is, we still have no idea if he’s even going to be a starter.

Avery Bradley

Though Avery Bradley is the newest addition to this team, I still think he has the best chance. He has the most playoff experience as a key contributor. His lockdown defense was a key part of why the Boston Celtics were so dangerous last season. It’s that defense alone is why I think this will be Bradley’s team.

Detroit has always been a defense first team. All their championship runs have been with teams that were defensive first. That added level of grit and fight is exactly the culture this team needs. Bradley is going to guard the best player on opposing teams pretty often, and that constant battle is going to be fun to watch.

He’s also a capable scorer, and old enough to be the veteran leadership that the rest of the young guys need. If the team follows Bradley’s lead they could be dangerous in the upcoming years. Maybe even becoming the third edition of a defensive led championship team.

So what’s the knock on Bradley? The fact that he might not be in Detroit for that long. His contract is up after this season, and teams are going to go after him. If he doesn’t like what he sees from the team this year, he could easily jump to a contender.

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Who do you think is the leader this year? Any of these players, or maybe a younger guy like Stanley Johnson. Heck, Anthony Tolliver is a sort of cult hero in Detroit, and maybe all the fans gravitate around him. Either way, as long as the Pistons make it to the playoffs, I think we will all be happy.