Detroit Pistons: Why Was Anthony Tolliver Acquired?
By Adam McGee
If the negative impact Josh Smith was having on the Detroit Pistons wasn’t already apparent, it has become so in their last two games. The team’s decision to waive Smith may have caught the basketball world off-guard, but since then Detroit have won back-to-back games. A move that has gone largely unnoticed, though, was the Pistons’ decision to get Anthony Tolliver.
The Pistons acquired Tolliver as part of a trade with the Phoenix Suns on Christmas Eve, sending their rarely used 2013 second round draft selection Tony Mitchell in the opposite direction. Tolliver may not be a household name, and the Pistons are the eighth team of his journeyman NBA career, but with his skill set he can have a big impact on how Detroit plays.
In many ways Tolliver is everything you’d expect from a Stan Van Gundy deal, and could prove to be a signal of the way that Van Gundy is going to look to fashion his roster over the next few seasons.
Van Gundy expressed his satisfaction with getting the deal done in conversation with Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press:
"“I like shooting at the four spot a lot, and he’s a solid pro with a very good contract. It’s a value contract. It was really a no-brainer, quite honestly.”"
Signing from Phoenix, Tolliver didn’t quite get the opportunities that he might have expected, but Van Gundy seems confident that he can change that in the Motor City:
"“His playing time has been a little more limited with the Morris twins in Phoenix. … I know how we will use him offensively — I just don’t know when or how much.I think eventually we want to get to spread the floor out more and more around Andre (Drummond). I think he’s a really good fit with a really good contract.”"
Making a move for Tolliver was unquestionably a move to try and give a shot in the arm to the Pistons’ struggling offense, and his shooting should do just that. Tolliver is a career 35.5 percent shooter from three-point range, but his last two seasons have been better than that mark too.
Between his time in Charlotte and Phoenix, the 29-year-old has been knocking down the long ball at a rate of 40.7 percent. That’s a level of sustained consistency with his long range shooting that couldn’t really be said of any other player on the Detroit roster, except for Jodie Meeks.
Just by removing Josh Smith, the Pistons’ spacing and offensive flow has looked much improved anyway. In wins over the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit scored 119 and 103 points respectively, far exceeding their average of 95.5 points per game for the season.
On top of that, there’s evidence that the three-ball is starting to fall for them now that they are playing with a more conventionally sized lineup too. Against the Pacers, the Pistons made 38.5 percent of their attempts from downtown, while the Cavaliers couldn’t withstand the barrage of shooting they came under, buckling against Detroit’s 54.8 percent accuracy.
These early signs of improvement with Detroit’s offense are encouraging, and the addition of Anthony Tolliver should only allow them to get better again.