Detroit Pistons: Let’s meet the 2018 trade deadline additions

The Detroit Pistons made two moves at the 2018 NBA trade deadline. Let’s see what each of these players will bring to the Pistons this season and beyond.

After making a blockbuster trade to add Blake Griffin, the Detroit Pistons made two more minor moves get themselves ready for a playoff push. The Pistons shipped out the two other players that came in the Griffin trade (one of which I thought would have some type of impact) and turned them into two players that should see the court quite often in the future. Now that these guys are actually here for the rest of the year, let’s see what they could bring to the team

Jameer Nelson

Honestly, it taking this long for Jameer Nelson to become a Piston is the most surprising thing here. Nelson broke out in Stan Van Gundy’s system back in the Orlando Magic days and since then there have always been murmurs that the Pistons could try to grab him on the cheap in free agency.

Well, it finally happened, and for a good reason. Since Reggie Jackson has been out, the Pistons haven’t been stellar from a backup point guard standpoint. Langston Galloway is better suited as a two guard since he just loves to go out there chucking triples, and Dwight Buycks has been decent, but he doesn’t have any sort of consistency. Nelson thrives in this type of offense and is smart enough with the basketball in his hands to keep everybody involved.

Once Jackson comes back and Ish Smith moves back to the backup it’ll be nice to have a guy like Nelson in the locker room to keep everybody focused. The playoffs are a whole different ballgame, and Jameer has NBA Finals experience.

James Ennis III

This is the move that the Pistons needed to make at the deadline. James Ennis III is exactly the player you would want to come off your bench. He’s a workhorse and a shooter, and he should slot right into the rotation with Reggie Bullock and Stanley Johnson. This will also allow Luke Kennard to play exclusive minutes at shooting guard which should bode well for his game.

Ennis is going to give the bench unit a solid scoring option as well. Bullock became a viable option to this team after he started to hustle and get easy baskets, and I expect Ennis to do a very similar thing to start. His contract is up after this season, but much like Bullock, I expect Van Gundy to like this guy’s game and try to keep him with the Pistons.

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There’s just something I have always liked about Ennis since his Miami Heat days, I just can’t tell exactly it is. Either way, I’m excited to see him ball out for the Motor City and you should be too.