Detroit Pistons Season Preview

Detroit Pistons

2014 Record 29-53

2015 O/U 33.5

Who are their stars?

With the Pistons moving on from Greg Monroe this officially became Andre Drummonds’ team. Drummond has always been fighting with Monroe for center minutes and elite player status in Detroit, but he truly earned his top spot as the teams best player. Then you look and realize Drummond is only 22 and you can really start to get excited for what is to come in Detroit. Drummond is a rebound machine, he is a plus defender and he is a decent scorer. He really is close to the full package, and in arguably the toughest position in the NBA he is much closer to 5 than 10 in the list of the best at it. In 2014 and to the future Drummond will take this team as far as he can, but who you build around Drummond will obviously be the biggest test.

Who are the glue guys?

Reggie Jackson goes from the sixth man in OKC to being the second most important player in Detroit. To his defense he played well in his starting role in the second half of the season for the Pistons. However, I just don’t see it for him to be this teams’ leader and to be a guy to put them over the edge. It seems as though the Pistons over paid him, and they seemed to have forgotten they have Brandon Jennings who plays the same position. Jennings is repairing an ACL and may not be the same when back, which explains the insurance, but if he is healthy by January, they have to find a way to get him on the court. While the back court has its sorting out to do, Ersan Ilyasova brings the perfect compliment to Drummond in the front. Ilyasova is a quality stretch four, and his spacing gives Drummond a much clearer path on offense, than what anyone he has ever played with can bring.

Rotation players

Marcus Morris another guy who can stretch the floor in the four position, but he can also provide a physical defender next to Ilyasova in the three position. Between all of these players there is plenty of room for different lineups, and it doesn’t even being to dig deeper into what they have. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is basically a glue guy due to his solid three point shooting ability, but he just hasn’t gotten to the point of being a relied on asset to me. The other question is how much time will he get at the two position, but it seems as though they would like him to rotate at the two and the three between Marcus Morris, and Jodie Meeks at the three and two respectively. With Brandon Jennings in the mix I wonder how much time at the two will be available, and it probably will depend on where Stanley Johnsin fits into this line up. I always viewed Johnson in the small forward role, but it has been mentioned that he can play anywhere from the two to the four. If he does get that time at the three, it will be KCP at the two more and a fight for time for Jennings in a potential sixth man role. Johnson, who is 19 years old also may not be in line for playing time, sliding Jennings back into premier minutes.

Where do they rank? Over Under? How far can they go?

Drummond and Jackson can create an inside-outside that in my mind can be better than what Walker and Jefferson bring to Charlotte. Detroit also is much better in the role player department and head coaching than Charlotte. The core of the Pistons isn’t anything to dwell on, but none of these lineups have played together yet. I don’t expect Jennings to fit in and I see the best rotation eventually being Jackson-KCP-Johnson-Ilysova-Drummond, with Morris, and Jodie Meeks coming in off the bench. It is nice on paper, but with an average age of 23, and that includes Ilyasova at 28, they seem too young to compete this year. I think at best they just miss the playoffs, but I see them a little closer to the bottom. One more year with a top ten pick should send Detroit into prime contention in 2016-17.

Under 33.5 wins, 12th in the East, 24th in the NBA.