REGGIE BULLOCK
AGE: 25
NBA EXPERIENCE: 3 seasons
BECAME A PISTON: The Pistons traded a 2020 second-round draft pick to Phoenix on July 9, 2015 in exchange for Marcus Morris and Reggie Bullock.
CAREER MILESTONES: Bullock, from Kinston, N.C., entered the 2013 NBA draft after his junior season at North Carolina, where he played on teams loaded with future NBA players. Bullock came off the bench as a freshman and started as a sophomore alongside four players taken in the top 17 picks of the 2012 draft: Harrison Barnes, John Henson, Kendall Marshall and Tyler Zeller. As a junior, Bullock scored 13.9 points a game and shot .436 from the 3-point line. He was chosen with the 25th pick by the Los Angeles Clippers and spent his first 1½ seasons playing little for a team with title aspirations and many veteran wings ahead of him in the pecking order. Bullock was traded to Phoenix at the 2015 trade deadline in a three-team deal that saw the Clippers add coach Doc Rivers’ son, Austin. Bullock never got a chance to gain his footing in Phoenix before being included in the trade that sent Marcus Morris to Detroit as the Suns looked to create cap room for a failed pursuit of free agent LaMarcus Aldridge.
CAREER ARC: Bullock can play either wing position, though at just 205 pounds on a 6-foot-7 frame the matchups are usually more favorable for him at shooting guard at this point. The Pistons were interested in adding Morris to fill a roster void at small forward; Bullock – plus injured veteran Danny Granger – was thrown into the deal to allow Phoenix to create further cap space. There was no guarantee of a roster spot, but Bullock eventually won out over holdover Cartier Martin and D-League hopeful Adonis Thomas with an outstanding preseason performance. After struggling early and losing his rotation spot, Bullock finished the season strong and was a part of Stan Van Gundy’s playoff rotation against Cleveland until missing the last two games of the series with nerve inflammation in his left leg. Bullock averaged 11.6 minutes in the 37 games in which he appeared and shot .415 from the 3-point line.
SEASON HIGHLIGHTS: Bullock shot 1 of 17 over 10 games early in the season before losing his rotation spot. That drought extended to 1 of 19 as he played spot minutes through early January. A one-game stint in the D-League in which he scored 29 points and hit 6 of 8 from the 3-point line reinforced the notion that Bullock could be a productive NBA sniper. When an injury to Stanley Johnson opened the door for Bullock in late February, he responded by scoring 16 points, making 6 of 9 shots, in a win over Philadelphia. From that point on, Bullock hit nearly 50 percent from the 3-point line (21 of 43) and played big minutes in some of the critical playoff-drive wins. Perhaps Bullock’s best game came April 6 at Orlando when he scored 13 points and dished out six assists in 27 minutes of a comeback win, finishing a closely contested game for a struggling Marcus Morris.
2016-17 ROLE: Bullock will again have to fight for minutes in training camp as the Pistons will get back Jodie Meeks, who went into 2015-16 entrenched not only as the No. 2 shooting guard but the heart of Stan Van Gundy’s second-unit offense. If Meeks shows in training camp that he still has his calling cards – an accurate 3-point shot, the quick trigger on catch-and-shoot jump shots and the constant movement and ability to use screens – he’ll have a strong chance to move back into that role. But if Bullock continues to shoot 40 percent from the 3-point line, runs the floor, plays sound defense and helps the offense with his ball movement and quick decisions, it will be tough to deny him a role.
CONTRACT STATUS: The Pistons picked up the fourth-year option on Bullock’s rookie contract for 2016-17 prior to the start of last season.