The NBA offseason is only a few weeks old and the Detroit Pistons have already been very active. With a young team and poor results over recent years we figured some sort of shake up was bound to happen. In less than a month we've seen a coaching change, a new draft class, new blood in from the free agent pool and some other notable changes. Some have been good, some have been questionable, and some have been downright bad.
Maurice Cheeks brought in as new coach
First off let me ask, why do we always see the same head coaches getting fired and rehired in the NBA? Grantland had a great article about retread coaches and it just doesn't make sense to me. We see it every year, a coach can't succeed with his team so he gets fired but will get another shot with a new team. Then it happens again and again and again.
In eight years as a head coach with the Portland Trailblazers and Philadelphia 76ers, Mo Cheeks had a below .500 record while guiding his team to the playoffs three times and never made it out of the first round. What part of that resume shows that he is deserving of coaching this young Pistons team that is in desperate need of guidance? He isn't the worst choice they could have made but it definitely wasn't the best either. If anything Cheeks' teams underperformed with the talent he was given.
When the news came out that Phil Jackson was helping Pistons owner Tom Gores find a new head coach my first instinct was we were going after Brian Shaw. As an assistant for the Indiana Pacers, Shaw's name was being throw around as a top candidate for many head coach openings. I was really hoping the Pistons could reel him in because I'd rather see us taking a chance with new talent than a coach that has failed. Shaw ultimately took the head coach position with the Denver Nuggets after they had fired George Karl. That was another coach I would have taken. Karl was named Coach of the Year in the NBA last year and was somehow fired. Granted his playoff record isn't the greatest but he reached the post season in 22 of 25 years as a coach.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope selected 8th in the NBA Draft, along with Tony Mitchell and Peyton Siva
The NBA Draft always brings so much promise to teams because when your team has a lottery pick that player has a chance to make an immediate impact. The last four years the Pistons have had the chance to get a top 5 pick but for some reason they win too many games at the end of the year and land in the 7-10 range. When you know you have no shot at the playoffs there's no reason to win games, you might as well lose in order to get a better draft pick. The Spurs are a prime example when David Robinson when down with a season ending injury in 1996. They lost 62 games and ended up with the #1 overall pick selecting Tim Duncan in 1997 and the rest is history. Nonetheless, the Pistons haven't done too bad the last few years in the draft.
In 2010 and 2012 Detroit was lucky that Greg Monroe (7th pick) and Andre Drummond (9th pick) fell to them. Coming into this years draft I felt they desperately needed a point guard and the top three players at that position were there for the taking. But, instead Joe Dumars decided to go against the scouts and select Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with the 8th pick. In a draft full of surprises, this pick was no different.
Personally, I was hoping for either C.J. McCollum, Trey Burke, or Michael Carter-Williams, who all happened to be the next three selections. McCollum was on the top of my list, a 6'4 point guard that averaged 21 points over his four years at Lehigh. His senior year was cut short with an injury but he was on pace for his best season with 23.9 ppg while shooting 49% from the field and 51% from three point range. Also, he led Lehigh to a first round upset of the 2-seed Duke in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Already drawing comparisons to Damian Lillard, the 2012 Rookie of the Year, he would have been a great add for a young Pistons team. Of course, Michigan's Trey Burke was the hometown pick but his size made me a little leery. Unless he's going to be the next Chris Paul, 6'0 point guards have a hard time with the size and athleticism of the NBA.
Caldwell-Pope is a 6'5 swingman out of Georgia that averaged 18.5 points per game and was named SEC player of the year after his sophomore season. That's all great, but I still don't like the pick. When you take a wing player in the top ten the last thing you want to hear is "he's not a great athlete but..." which is exactly what Jay Bilas said when describing KCP. Also, he played on a Georgia team that was below .500 in the SEC, which was the worst power conference in the country. KCP is supposed to be one of the best shooters in this years draft but his numbers say otherwise. He only shot 37% from deep and 43% from the field, which is pretty bad among college ranks. Players like KCP are a dime-a-dozen in the NBA and only a select few ever pan out. Hopefully, he proves me wrong.
Along with KCP the Pistons selected Tony Mitchell and Peyton Siva in the second round at picks 37 and 56 respectively. Mitchell, from North Texas, was one of the steals of the draft. Before the college season started, Mitchell was a projected lottery pick but under a new head coach the 6'8 forward didn't have the year everybody expected. Regardless of that, he's a great athlete with size that scouts obviously saw first round potential in this kid and to get him in the second round is a major plus. He has the opportunity to crack the rotation in his first year. As for Siva, we all saw what he did leading Louisville to the National Championship but it might take a lot for him to find a roster spot depending on how many point guards Detroit decides to keep.
Josh Smith comes in as big free agent signing and add Chauncey Billups
Every year the free agent signing period is an integral part of building a team in the offseason. For contenders you're looking to make a finals push and for bottom-feeders you're just trying to make the playoffs. The Pistons are trying to make up for spending insane amounts of money on Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva the last time they made a splash with free agent signings. So they went hard after Josh Smith from the Atlanta Hawks as soon as teams were allowed to talk to players. It didn't seem like a difficult task as they were able to agree to a $54 million, four-year contract with little resistance from either side or other teams.
As a player I really like Josh Smith a lot. Yes, his jumpshot is very erratic and he takes way more than he should (especially 3-pointers), but finishes great around the rim and he stuffs a stat sheet. He's averaged over 17 points, eight rebounds, and four assists the last four years. He's also only one of two current players averaging more than two blocks and one steal for his career, the other is 3-time defensive player of the year Dwight Howard. Not to mention he's only 27 which means he is entering the prime of his career.
Smith has plenty to offer a team in need of a low post threat but unfortunately that's not the Pistons. The biggest thing Detroit has going for them is the potential of Monroe and Drummond becoming the best front court combo in the league. Adding Smith only clogs the paint up more than it needs to be if Detroit plans on playing him at the small forward position. He has no jumper and his 3-point percentage is atrocious. On the other hand, if they plan on using him in a rotation with the other big men it might hinder the maturation of Drummond.
Another pickup for the Pistons is a man they know quite well, Chauncey Billups. The contract is for two-years with $2.5 million guaranteed in his first season back. He was originally sent away to Denver during the 2008-09 for Allen Iverson, another gem from Joe Dumars. Billups was with the Los Angeles Clippers the past two seasons but played only 42 games total due to an Achilles injury. The former NBA Finals MVP is now 36 so it's hard to expect a lot of production from him. I'm guessing this is a nostalgic signing from Dumars and also to bring in a veteran leader to help groom Brandon Knight, if he's still around.
One option Detroit has, which I think is their best, is to move Monroe to get a solid point guard or small forward. The best case scenario I can come up with is packaging Monroe with either Rodney Stuckey or possibly Knight to go after Rajon Rondo. The Celtics are in a huge rebuilding mode after shipping Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry to Brooklyn, so they might be willing to part with Rando as well (I know he wouldn't want to stay there anyway). I know we just brought in Billups but he is not the long term solution. Like Smith, Rondo is also 27 and is coming off an ACL injury but that doesn't bother me as much as you might think. For Derrick Rose it was a huge set back because of how much he relies on his speed and quickness. Rondo on the other hand is known for finding teammates not blowing past defenders. The addition of a guy like Rondo would work well with Drummond and Smith.
Summer League provides a showcase for a young team
The Summer League is pretty much only for a few players from each team to show they deserve to make the final roster. Aside from the rookies, the player to focus on is Drummond. He has looked really good so far finishing strong around the rim, grabbing rebounds and blocking shots. In the Summer League he put up 15.5 points, 14.8 boards and 2 blocks per game. He needs to sure up his hands and do something about his free throw shooting (33% in Summer League) but he's definitely coming along well for a 19-year old. As for the new guys, KCP has struggled from the field is his first few games but picked it up lately and finished averaging 13.8 points. Mitchell has shown his great athleticism on the offensive boards as well as the defensive end. Siva has looked good running the team averaging more than five assists and less than two turnovers.
Rasheed Wallace rejoins the Pistons as an assistant
The need for Sheed is back in Detroit. Rasheed Wallace was brought in by Maurice Cheeks as an assistant coach to help with the growth of the young bigs. He will immediately have the respect and attention of the players as most of them grew up watching him play. Wallace also played under Cheeks in Portland so both know what the other brings to the table. I'm not sure how Rasheed will be as a coach, I just hope now that he's not playing his temperament has gone down and won't be getting techs from the bench.
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