NBA: 2015-16 Eastern Conference Projections
By Shane Young
10. Detroit Pistons: 36-46
Weakest month: December — 15 games, .456 (28th)
Hardest month: January — 15 games, .534 (7th)
Overall strength of schedule: 18th
If I was Chuck Noland and stranded on an island for an extended period of time, but was given the choice of one NBA head coach to discuss hoops with … Stan Van Gundy is surely a finalist. He’d go against Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr in a triple threat match to decide the winner, but I’d have faith in Detroit’s savior. After all, he’d help me form a f***ing wall anywhere I needed.
Van Gundy’s Pistons are on the right trail, given the misfortune of losing Greg Monroe this offseason. Monroe was hitting career bests in nearly everything during his 5th year (scoring, rebounding, fouling less, and shooting 75% from the line). When guys improve to that degree, it’s always bittersweet — Detroit wanted him to shine, but knew it would be challenging to retain him. Monroe’s asking and deserving price was different than Van Gundy’s plan.
That’s just business. Monroe gave the Motor City everything he had offensively, lacked very much on defense, stayed durable, and matured each offseason as a Piston. Now, he’s still in the Central Division as a Milwaukee Buck.
This could be a blessing in disguise for the Pistons, however. In 2015-16, they can fully transition into the Reggie Jackson & Andre Drummond era — one that should excite every upset Pistons fan. They’ve been deprived of the playoffs since 2008-09, a drought that seems longer than it actually is. But the city has been begging for a skilled basketball team again.
With this coming season, they’ll begin to see the headway to success. It won’t be fully in their palms, but five wins short of the playoffs definitely counts as “within grasp.”
Jackson hasn’t had enough time to make a sizable impact in Detroit, only playing 27 games last year after the trade deadline. Although, he showed no regard for humanity in those last opportunities to earn a big contract. On a per 36 minute basis, Jackson averaged 19.7 points, 10.3 assists, and 5.2 rebounds. Not many point guards are able to gloat about that type of line, even in a low sample size. To be fair, though, Jackson was going all-out as the Pistons’ best guard, taking 17.4 shot attempts per 36 minutes and committing 3.9 turnovers as well — evidence of a high usage rating for a point guard.
We need to see a full year of this new combo before it becomes clear if Detroit has a chunk of gold, but you have to raise your eyebrows in this early stage. Drummond could very well take this team to the playoffs throughout his future, and they’ll finally enter the “fringe playoff” category now. His presence is still a bit underrated, considering he’s doing more than most expected of him during the 2012 Draft.
Drummond gets the most chances inside of any big man, asserting himself to get 687 shot attempts within the restricted area. While he’s not on Anthony Davis’ level when it comes to finishing (71.2% effective), he is on DeMarcus Cousins’ level. Cousins attempted 153 fewer shots than Drummond from the restricted area, but was only 59.2% efficient — barely above Drummond.
But no, Drummond still wouldn’t be able to make five straight free throws if $500 million was the grand prize.
The Pistons join the Magic as two teams you would most likely find yourself watching on League Pass during a cold, uneventful Saturday night in January … but neither are playoff ready yet.