Detroit Pistons NBA Preview
By Staff
Detroit Pistons Roster Overview
Let’s face it, this roster hasn’t changed much at all. Lots of names have come and gone, but not difference makers. The Pistons lost Chauncey Billups, Josh Harrellson, Jonas Jerebko, Peyton Siva, Rodney Stuckey, and Charlie Villanueva. Tony Mitchell and/or Will Bynum could conceivably be let go yet as well. All those player combined last season to start 15 games–on a 29-53 team. Meanwhile, the splashiest acquisition was Jodie Meeks, who, at six million dollars a year, is generally considered to be a significant overpay.
All that said, the Pistons’ greatest (among many) weakness last season was shooting, specifically from three-point range. In Jodie Meeks, D.J. Augustin, Caron Butler, Cartier Martin, Brian Cook, and Spencer Dinwiddie, the Pistons added six players for whom shooting tops the list of their NBA skills. I am unconvinced that any of these guys will be a starter for most of the season, but the roster undoubtedly has more shooting talent to draw upon than it did last year.
If you’re looking for massive improvements on the Pistons, the place to look is coaching. Stan Van Gundy has historically been a very good coach, but he could be mediocre and the Pistons would have themselves a massive upgrade at the position. Loyer and Cheeks were given a tough job last season. However, unlike their predecessors Frank, Kuester, and Curry, they had some talent to work with on the roster. Given a situation that required an unusual degree of ingenuity, they basically rolled the ball out and threw away a season during which the Pistons organization could have at least tossed around a bunch of ideas and watched to see what worked. Instead, they rapidly figured out what didn’t work and repeatedly confirmed that it still wasn’t working.
I expect Van Gundy to be more creative with his lineups and to put players in positions where they have a relatively good chance at succeeding. That alone will be huge. I am curious to see what kind of defensive system he runs. Detroit doesn’t have any great defensive players but there are some with the toolbox to become just that. I expect to see better shooting and spacing, but also some considerable growing pains.
-Tim Thielke