Detroit Pistons: Gauging Stanley Johnson's Summer League

Generally speaking, the best way to currently describe the Detroit Pistons’ fan base would be apathetic.

Yes, there are hardcore fans who still actively follow and keep up with the team’s every move (you just might be in that exclusive group if you managed to find your way to this article), but many of the folks who were responsible for one of the best arena atmospheres in the NBA are no longer concerned with the activities of the Detroit Pistons.

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Those same people are crawling back, albeit slowly, and there are a variety of reasons for the gradually increasing buzz surrounding the team.

Like I talked about here, head coach Stan Van Gundy has essentially revamped the culture within the last year or so, and the general consensus around the NBA is that the Pistons have a plan, even if most are unsure as to whether or not the ceiling of that said plan is anything more than a second-round exit in the next five to seven years.

Whether irrational or not, the opinion regarding the potential future of the Pistons may have shifted slightly over the last week or so.

I’d like to preface all of what I’m about to say by acknowledging that I know it’s just Summer League, and plenty of players who ended up being great pros performed poorly in it, as well as vice versa.

So, how about Stanley Johnson?

Although just one play, that block was certainly representative of the week in Orlando for Stanley.

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The Stanimal’s Summer League per-48 numbers: 28.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.2 assists, and 1.8 blocks. Forgive me if I’m irrationally excited about that and the idea of potentially having the franchise’s best wing talent since Richard Hamilton.

It’s been a long several years with washed-up Tayshaun Prince, washed-up Trady McGrady, washed up Caron Butler, and you get my point. It hasn’t been pretty on the wings.

Now, Johnson didn’t HAVE to be hands down one of the best players at the Orlando Summer League to justify SVG selecting him eighth overall, most notably over Justise Winslow.

But, the fact that he did, while outplaying Winslow in the process (along with everybody in Orlando outside of Aaron Gordon) increases the excitement surrounding the Pistons ever so slightly, while also making people feel like this future core really might have something that has a shot at doing something meaningful at some point.

At the very least, people feel slightly better about that notion than they did before the Orlando Summer League began.

Throughout the Pistons’ five Summer League games, Stanley Johnson was remarkably consistent, shooting better than 50 percent in the first four games before finally falling victim to a cold shooting day in the Summer League finale, a 77-69 loss to the Miami Heat. Perhaps most encouraging from Stanley was the 41.7 percent from three, even if it was in a pretty small sample size.

Although Johnson isn’t a great perimeter shooter at the moment, he’s improved over the course of his entire career, and the idea is that his work ethic and attitude will allow that progression to continue.

The Pistons will need improvements in that area from Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope along with Johnson if the team ever wants to become a legitimate player in the East with this core.

What’s endeared Johnson to a lot of Pistons fans thus far is his attitude, and his willingness to embrace what it means to be a “Piston” and eagerness to instill the values that have made past versions of Pistons basketball so successful. In his first opportunity to back up what he’d been preaching about since the moment he was drafted, he backed it up and then some.

Johnson used his size and strength to get to the rim basically when he wanted, finished at an impressive rate, and that 11.9 rebounds per 48 minutes exemplifies just how good of a rebounder he could be in the league for a small forward.

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In Orlando, he looked like a varsity player messing around with some junior varsity kids, which is, of course, what you’d like to see out of your eighth-overall pick, but there is also no denying that he took it to a different level.

There will be no more games for Johnson as a Piston until the preseason starts, but his dominant performance in the Orlando Summer League was the first step in wiping away some of the disappointment some fans may have had over not getting Mario Hezonja and passing on Winslow.

Johnson was by far the best out of the three small forwards, although it should be noted that Hezonja only played two games before the Magic organization decided to sit him for the sake of not risking a senseless injury. Still, Hezonja was just 9-for-24 in the two games he did participate in and didn’t come close to displaying the versatility that Johnson did.

Again, we obviously shouldn’t reach conclusions about how anybody’s career is going to pan out based on a small sample size against competition that’s far inferior compared to what they’re going to face on a nightly basis in the NBA.

With that said, Johnson’s production and display of wide-ranging talent in the first test of his young career is another win for Stan Van Gundy in his ongoing effort to revive a once-proud Eastern Conference franchise.

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Detroit Pistons: Impact Of Stanley Johnson’s Summer League Performance

By David Hughes | Jul 12, 2015

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