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NLL Insider - Team by Team: Detroit Pistons

by jmac, updated on Saturday, October 07 2017, 05:21 am EST



2016-17 Finish: 29-53

 

Season Highlight: 
The back of the previous GM… For Piston fans, genuinely, the entire season was probably a highlight for them. Before laddas took the top job at the helm of the Pistons franchise, the days were short, the sun was rarely seen and as the organisation slowly spiralled into irrelevance, one bad trade or decision at a time and after another. Wanted a call back from Piston’s brass? Forget about it. Get them on the phone at the right time and cash in on a favourable trade for yourself.

 

Step in laddas, who took seasons worth of poor decisions, incompetence and lack of vision and renovated the entire roster, taking a dilapidated fixer-upperer to a beautiful, family-size home that any first home buyer would dream of. A rapid-fire, instinctual flurry of trades and cashing in volatile, future assets has set the Pistons up with a fantastic core and a very bright future. Plus, BEN SIMMONS, waiting in the wings – the sole reason that laddas quit the Magic GM role to build around Ben in Motown.

"I think you look at BEN SIMMONS and you go, wow... you know what he could be the next franchise player in this league. His athleticism, skillset, size and court vision are in an elite category. He ran a 3.1sec 3/4 court sprint for christ sakes and hes 6'10!. I am very excited at the chance to develop this young man." Said GM Laddas.

 

On top of that, the Pistons flirted with a playoff berth, acquired AND moved superstar Chris Paul, turned an awful roster with a bleak outlook into Simmons, Oladipo, Nurkic and Favors, as well as exciting rookie Fox.

 

Season Lowlight:

When Detroit GM and fans alike all realised that Ben Simmons was not coming back during the season and that it co-incited with the Pistons slim playoff aspirations/chances being dashed.

 

Best/Worst Trade:

For the Pistons, whose GM runs traders anonymous, there was a lot of trade information to sift through. Here are two shots…

 

Best trade –

The Pistons receive Chris Paul, Lucas Noiguera and 26 gms for Jrue Holiday, Tristan Thompson.

And where is the Atlanta Hawks GM now? Gone, gone, gone. Another sad tale of a once powerful team ruining all their organisational momentum one transaction at a time.

Jrue Holiday, while a very talented guard, is extremely injury prone and at least 2-3 tiers below Chris Paul in terms of talent and impact. Tristan Thompson is a great rebounder. That is it. He hustles and rebounds, and makes an absurd amount of money to do it. Jrue Holiday is not on 1.5 times the money Paul is, and Holiday and Thompson will cost the Hawks over $45 million next season. To be honest, this is just a gross trade for the Hawks and a marvellous move for the Pistons. Knowing some of the other offers that were on the table for the Hawks, full credit goes to laddas for whispering all those sweet nothings through the phone to close the deal.

Worst trade –
Detroit send DeAndre Jordan, Kelly Olynyk to Dallas, Dallas sends Nerlens Noel and Allen Crabbe to the Pistons.

DeAndre is arguably the best defensive centre in the game and an athletic monster, one of the best rated bigs, too. Noel has big upside but is a tweener big with an uncertain NBA role. Allen Crabbe and Olynyk is a bit of a wash in my eyes. The Pistons downgraded and didn’t get much value in return.

 

Best FA Signing:

Allen Crabbe – the Pistons, along with their poor record, did well to get a young guy with a great skillset (shooting) on a very long-term (albeit very expensive) deal. With a wiry, long body with solid quickness and a nice, high release on his jumper. He fits in well with the young core and provides sorely needed shooting, and is young enough to continue to grow with the rest of the Pistons’ core.

 

Worst FA Signing:

Jerryd Bayless – at the time, Bayless looked like a real impact player on a pretty decent deal. However, he ended up sustaining a serious injury and writing off the entire 16-17 season, while taking up over ten percent of the Pistons’ salary cap and not helping them in any way.

 

Star:

Ben Simmons – did he even play a game? No. But there is no doubt that the Detroit future is alllll about Simmons. This one player was enough to uproot the current GM from an Orlando organisation that was well on the way up and possessed multiple all-stars. If Simmons can reach the ceiling that laddas projects him to, he will be an elite NLL force. 

 

Surprise:

I genuinely don’t even remember who played on the Detroit team last season… 

Cole Aldrich??

The big man was almost entirely overlooked in free agency, but laddas swooped on him and King Cole was hyped to all heights during the early days of the season. He lasted 50 games in Detroit, which could be a season record, his per 36 numbers were good, with the big man putting up 9 and 9 with good defensive stats in 25 minutes per game. He now resides in Houston.

 

Goat:

The remnants of the previous GM…

Rewind 18 months ago, this franchise was perhaps the most rudderless, directionless and devoid of hope. Fast-forward to now, the Pistons have a fantastic core in place and would genuinely be thinking ‘playoffs of bust’ next season. Just goes to show that value is fluid and in the eye of the beholder; and that a rebuild doesn’t have to take years. Kudos, laddas.

Draft Report Card: (via Merencio)

Detroit Pistons

 

No. 05 â€“ De’Aaron Fox

No. 16 â€“ Donovan Mitchell

No. 52 -  Vlatko Cancar

 

Detroit’s draft seemed to take a turn for the worse when they saw LAC pick Dennis Smith Jr. at 4, then Memphis picking Fox at 5 and leaving all wings on GM Laddas’ board must’ve really been a roller coaster ride. Lol Then, unexpectedly, Frank Ntilikina (or is it Nicotine?) was around when Memphis was on the clock again, Laddas quickly pulled the trigger on a deal for his man, Fox,  in exchange for Tatum, while Memphis still got away with a point guard with potential AND one of the highest players in the draft in Tatum. Everybody wins. Fox has elite speed and agility, reminds people of John Wall, that’s how good. He gets to the rim faster and higher than anybody, it’s like slo-mo! He’s a true point, and a leader, who seems ready to take over for a Detroit team who hasn’t tasted success in a while! Concerns about his shooting are real and very worrisome, he just can’t shoot very much, it is ugly, and you have to wonder if he will be decent enough at it, one day to make defenders respect him. Detroit wasn’t done, though in a deal with GS, Laddas watched Donovan Mitchell, one of my favorite players in the draft, fall to him. Mitchell is lightning in a bottle, a very explosive player who stands at 6-2, as an undersized 2 guard but with a 6-10 wingspan, which is crazy if you think about it! He has improved as a playmaker and has tough shot-making ability, but he is likely to struggle against size and consistency at the next level. Cancar was a pick Laddas didn’t want to make, because all his targets had been taken just moments earlier, but he’s actually not bad of a player as he’s a competitor with range, can defend and fluid despite his size, just needs to work on his strength.

 

Grade: A

 

Looking to the Future:

BENNNNNNNNN SSSSSIMMMMMONNNNNNNS!!!

Laddas traded in his pick assets for win now assets, then traded his win now assets for high potential/win later assets, to grow organically with his main man B-Sim. Nurkic is already showing signs that, if he can stay healthy, he is ready to blow up and become a terrific big man. Oladipo finally gets his chance to have a huge role on a team. Favors is ready to bounce back and protect the paint on defence and the Quick Fox is ready to jump into the NLL. Future looks good. It is go time in Motown.
 

Upcoming Free Agents:
Nil – all is bubbling along nicely in Detroit due to laddas diversifying his most valuable pieces (Paul, Jordan, Beal) into more depth and more pieces. However, if there is anyone who can’t stand not performing transactions, it’s laddas.

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