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On anniversary of trade to Pistons, Bullock stays focused on seizing opportunity

ORLANDO – Reggie Bullock heard the news just like everyone else. The Pistons traded Jodie Meeks. It affected him directly, unlike its impact on pretty much everyone else. But you wouldn’t know it by his response. All he did was go back to work.

“It’s a chance for me and Darrun (Hilliard), but I’m not even thinking about another guy,” Bullock said between practice sessions Thursday in steamy central Florida. “I’m just thinking about the opportunity I have right here in front of me and just trying to continue to work and make it happen.”

Bullock made it happen often enough in his first season with the Pistons – after 1½ seasons buried on the depth chart with the Clippers and a few unremarkable months in Phoenix – to give Stan Van Gundy the confidence to deal Meeks without fear for the void it might leave.

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the day the Pistons struck a deal with Phoenix that filled a gaping need at small forward. The Suns were desperate to create cap space and Marcus Morris was the prize for the Pistons. Bullock was attached to the deal to help the Suns get another $1.2 million off the books in their failed attempt to lure LaMarcus Aldridge.

Bullock showed up for training camp with perhaps a 50-50 chance of winning a roster spot. Van Gundy liked what he’d seen from Adonis Thomas over the course of a rigorous off-season spent working right outside the coach’s office window. But Thomas suffered a strained Achilles in training camp and Bullock kept making shots – and not making mistakes – every time Van Gundy threw him in a preseason game.

Bullock not only made the roster, he had his option for 20161-7 picked up. When Meeks suffered a foot injury in the season’s second game – one that kept him out until the regular-season finale – Bullock was suddenly in the rotation. But he couldn’t make a shot. It’s what made him a first-round pick in 2013, but all of a sudden nothing would fall. Bullock played in 10 of 13 early-season games but shot 1 of 17. He was out of the rotation – and in deep storage.

Over three months, Bullock played a total of 26 minutes in nine scattered appearances of already-decided games. Then Stanley Johnson and Anthony Tolliver were injured and the Reggie Bullock who won a job in preseason re-emerged. He played in 18 of the final 25 games and shot 53 percent from the 3-point arc over that span. He proved an opportunistic rebounder, a pinpoint passer and a tireless cutter who rarely cost his team a possession.

Now he’s in Orlando, practicing with the Summer League team, as the most experienced NBA player here with three full years of service. He won’t play in games, but Van Gundy wanted him here – and he wanted to be here.

“Coach told me he wanted some experience around these guys, a player like me that didn’t get a lot of run last year but toward the end of the season I started showing some of my skills,” he said. “I’m here giving the coaches another chance to see me in the summertime, what I worked on, see how I got better since the season ended and seeing how my injury has improved.”

Ah, yes. The injury. It was weird and, like most injuries, it was untimely. It came during the first-round playoff loss to Cleveland. Bullock scored eight points without missing a shot, two from the 3-point line, in Game 1, helping the Pistons to a second-half lead. He was 2 of 3 with two rebounds, two assists and a steal in another good showing in 12 minutes of Game 2. Then his season was over. Nerve inflammation in his left leg left him unable to jump off or push off of it.

It quickly healed after a week to 10 days under the care of doctors at the University of North Carolina, where Bullock – a Carolina native and proud Tar Heel – sets up shop for the summer. He’s working under a trainer in nearby Raleigh, spending a lot of time with his young son and playing pickup games that have become a rite of summer in Chapel Hill among former and current Tar Heels.

One of Van Gundy’s most resounding qualities is the confidence his players feel he has in their ability. Players sense when a coach sends them into a game with trepidation. Van Gundy isn’t one to give a quick hook for a mistake made by a player who comes in cold. All of that said, Bullock gets the lion’s share of credit for staying ready through prolonged stretches of inactivity – and he and Van Gundy both are quick to credit assistant coach Charles Klask, who works daily with Bullock and Hilliard – diagnosed Thursday with a stress fracture in the lower back that will likely keep him idle for the next two months – during the season.

A big reason Van Gundy came to trust Bullock so easily was Bullock’s discipline in staying within his lane. He’ll take open shots with confidence, but move the ball and wait for another chance when it’s not there. That’s his focus in summer workouts, too – becoming an even more deadly sniper.

“I’m a shooter,” he shrugged. “So I’m just trying to shoot from all angles. I’ve been working on a lot of angle shooting, coming off pin-downs and just getting my shot off as quick as possible. Ballhandling. Using the pick and roll. Just making easy plays and keeping the game simple, not doing anything out of the ordinary. Whatever I can do to help this team, that’s what I’m willing to do.”

When a player lives that attitude, doesn’t just utter the words, he usually finds a way to playing time. Sometimes it just takes a little longer than he’s prefer.