Just when you were ready to ride with the Pistons, they slammed the gear shifter into reverse. Detroit’s record declined by seven games and, one year after giving Cleveland its toughest test in the Eastern Conference playoffs, didn’t make the postseason at all. Center Andre Drummond was a disappointment in a league where big paint centers like himself already are of declining value. It turned out that Reggie Jackson’s expected early-season absence recovering from left knee tendinitis wasn’t a problem, but Jackson’s return upsetting the Pistons’ flow was. Then there was Stanley Johnson in what qualified as a good ole sophomore slump.
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ICYMI
Desperate for shooters with range, the Pistons didn’t mess around on draft night, using the No. 12 pick on Duke’s Luke Kennard. Kennard hit nearly 44 percent of his NCAA-length 3-pointers last season for the Blue Devils. And despite concerns about his defensive acumen, Kennard got decent reviews early in Detroit’s training camp. … In early July, Pistons president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy signed Langston Galloway, then picked up a gem by trading Marcus Morris to Boston for Avery Bradley. Bradley, an instant team leader for Detroit, was available after the Celtics signed Gordon Hayward.
THREE POINTS
1. Point guard Reggie Jackson, who never seemed quite right last season in dealing with tendinitis, needs to reassert himself as a floor and locker room leader. Teammates grumbled when he came back to grab minutes from Ish Smith, because Jackson represented more shooting and fewer passes to them.
2. Stanley Johnson’s bravado as a rookie in 2015-16 had even LeBron James yapping at him. The Pistons stiffened defensively when the strong, pestering Johnson was on the court but his offensive limitations were a problem. So were his work habits and his conditioning, in Van Gundy’s opinion. There’s no room for that now or Johnson might face a change of scenery.
3. Center Andre Drummond is the anchor of Detroit’s one-in, four-out preferred style of play. But the Pistons don’t have the shooters to properly surround him — Drummond sure does clean up their misses — and his adventures at the foul line will return as an issue when games start to really matter again for Detroit. Both things need to improve.
MAN ON THE SPOT
Stan Van Gundy. This is Year 4 of Van Gundy in his dual role as coach and president of basketball operations, and while there haven’t been major negatives to that arrangement, there haven’t been the sort of positives the Pistons were seeking either. Van Gundy enjoys the support of owner Tom Gores so there aren’t any job security issues – with either post – but even SVG is getting impatient with the halting progress on the court.
STARTING FIVE
Reggie Jackson | 14.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 5.2 apg
Offseason of heavy stretching and strengthening should help
Avery Bradley | 16.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 2.2 apg
A real steal in deal with Celtics, checking boxes at both ends and off the court too
Andre Drummond | 13.6 ppg, 13.8 rpg, 1.1 apg
Boards dominator whose rebound percentage (36.2) might pass his FT rate (38.6)
Tobias Harris | 16.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.7 apg
Pistons believe he’s ready for, and due, to take a big step at age 24
Stanley Johnson | 4.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.4 apg
Lost valuable time in coach’s doghouse due to inconsistency and fitness
KEY RESERVES
Ish Smith | 9.4 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 5.2 apg
Better ball distributor than Jackson made Pistons more efficient too
Jon Leuer | 10.2 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.5 apg
A “stretch” big has to do better than 29.3 3FG%
Langston Galloway | 7.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 1.3 apg
Might log more time at shooting guard than point guard
THE BOTTOM LINE
The Eastern Conference has softened up enough that the Pistons – especially if they’re drawing proper motivation from last season’s backslide – ought to be back in the playoff picture. But if the biggest storyline of their season is the move to downtown Detroit something will have gone seriously wrong. Offense will remain an issue, with perimeter shooting that feels pretty old-millennium for the modern NBA. Aiming for .500 in W-L.
Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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