(Editor’s note: Pistons.com today starts a five-part series examining the roster by position as the Pistons prepare for training camp by taking a look at their point guards. Coming Tuesday: shooting guard.)
One of the objectives Stan Van Gundy took into his first stab at free agency over the summer was to build greater depth and make Pistons practices a competitive cauldron. Nowhere will the fight for playing time in training camp and the preseason be more intense than at point guard.
Brandon Jennings returns as the incumbent starter, but under a coach with a far different style – and under an administration that didn’t send former lottery pick Brandon Knight and promising shooter Khris Middleton out of town to get him or commit a reported $24 million over three seasons for his services.
In other words, incumbency guarantees little. Van Gundy sees talent in Jennings and puts the onus of harnessing it on the coaching staff, which now includes a former dynamic NBA point guard, Tim Hardaway, who managed to play creatively but not recklessly.
POSITION: Point Guard
Depth chart: Brandon Jennings, D.J. Augustin/Will Bynum, Spencer Dinwiddie
Options: Jodie Meeks
Flexibility: In an era where NBA coaches are more willing than ever to field unorthodox lineups, it’s well within the realm of possibility that Stan Van Gundy will pair two point guards in the backcourt – even if it’s merely to match the many other teams to do so. Bynum, for one example, can be devastating attacking from the wing when he plays off the ball. When Dinwiddie, coming off January ACL surgery, is cleared to play, his size will make such pairings more viable at the defensive end.
The skinny: Jennings comes to camp as the incumbent starter entering his sixth NBA season. He’ll find a more structured offense awaiting him with Van Gundy. The Pistons signed Augustin knowing that he enjoyed tremendous success in Chicago under a similar structured offense. Bynum’s pick-and-roll acumen and toughness make him a factor. Dinwiddie’s potential has the Pistons excited for his future.
“My initial thought (on Jennings) is a little more structure in terms of the situations we put him in and a little more discipline on his part,” Van Gundy said not long after being named Pistons coach in mid-May. “What you see a lot in Brandon Jennings is he’ll have a game where he basically plays pretty well and then he’s got three, four, five plays in a lot of games that are unexplainable. He’s got to cut those out and become a more disciplined guy. Because he’s been in the league a little bit, people sometimes forget how young he is. He’s very young. He’s talented and a lot of those discipline things tend to take some time to really understand.”
Jennings averaged 15.5 points and 7.6 assists in 34 minutes a game last season, but his play tailed off over the final two months and he admitted disappointment with the mid-season firing of Maurice Cheeks. If Van Gundy’s influence can help Jennings rediscover the player who averaged 18.9 points and 8.4 assists while shooting 38 percent from the 3-point line in 17 December games, there won’t be much question as to who emerges from training camp atop the depth chart at point guard.
At his best, Jennings is a streaky scorer who provides incredible bursts to change games while otherwise using his speed to stress defenses and then his vision to exploit overcompensation for his penetration. His slight frame challenges him defensively, but Jennings self-reported over the summer that he’d added 10 pounds of muscle and it looked it when he showed up in Auburn Hills last week for workouts; he’d done the same last summer, but quickly shed it when he suffered a broken jaw and had to have it wired shut. A stronger Jennings who offers more perimeter resistance, combined with the anticipation that has allowed him to rack up 530 career steals, will help the Pistons make strides on the other end, as well.
Assuming Jennings establishes himself as the starter, the battle to be his backup could be the most intense position battle in training camp. It will be waged by Will Bynum – now the longest-tenured Piston at six seasons and counting – and D.J. Augustin, who could prove one of the bargains of 2014’s free agency.
“A competitive atmosphere is needed first in practice in order to take it into games,” Pistons general manager Jeff Bower said of the picture at point guard. “We have talented young men there that have different styles of play and different areas of strength and present options for coach Van Gundy to utilize given the situation. We think we have very good depth there and we do have a composite set of strengths and skills that only add to the versatility and the options as far as the game that night and throughout the season.”
Van Gundy prioritized shooting guard and small forward and came away with Jodie Meeks, Caron Butler and Cartier Martin at those positions. He never expected to have enough left over to get in the bidding for Augustin after his career year with Chicago last season, when he averaged 14.9 points and shot 41 percent from the 3-point line in 30 minutes a game after being cut by Toronto.
“He’s a great guy. He’s got great character, very intelligent,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said after losing Augustin to the Pistons. “He’s a guy who’s had a lot of success in the league, so he’s a proven veteran. He plays for the team and he plays to win and guys like that always add a lot to your team.”
Van Gundy naturally took note of Augustin’s performance for the Bulls, in Thibodeau’s highly structured system, but also remembered how difficult to contain Augustin proved early in his career when Van Gundy’s Orlando team went against Charlotte in a playoff series.
“I go back to Charlotte and, holy cow, that guy was hard to stop in pick and roll,” Van Gundy said. “That’s a guy we really, really wanted.”
Augustin’s edge over Bynum comes from the 3-point line, where he is a 38 percent career shooter. But Bynum is also a dynamic pick-and-roll operator who has the added bonus of having developed great chemistry with Andre Drummond. Bynum has also had experience playing off the ball for the Pistons, where he can receive passes with a full head of steam and attack the paint with even greater force.
The wild card at point guard is rookie Spencer Dinwiddie, a sure-fire first-round pick – and a potential lottery pick – if not for a January knee injury that required ACL reconstruction and allowed the Pistons to grab him with their only pick, 38 in the second round. Dinwiddie attacked his rehabilitation vigorously, moving to Houston to work with the same trainer credited with getting Adrian Peterson back on a football field nine months after a similar injury, and Van Gundy become even more convinced of Dindwiddie’s NBA future after seeing his work habits and getting a taste of his makeup since the June draft.
“I’ve got a really good feeling about him,” Van Gundy said. “I liked what I saw on film, I like where he is in rehab, I like his approach and I do have expectations for him being a good player in our organization. When he’s back, basketball is going to come around.”
Dinwiddie has yet to be cleared for full contact and there is no indication that will come in time for training camp. But the team’s medical staff is confident that he’ll return at 100 percent. Whenever that is, Dinwiddie’s size, shooting range and feel for the game will give the Pistons another option at point guard – and a very different one than the three veterans.
“He’s a big point guard and those guys have tremendous advantages in terms of their ability to see the floor,” Van Gundy said. “He’s a pass-first point guard who can score rather than a scoring point guard who can pass. He’s a very, very competitive guy who can figure out what it takes to get it done in games.”