Detroit Pistons: Best and worst draft picks of the Stan Van Gundy era
By Amaar Burton
Stan Van Gundy parted ways with the Detroit Pistons eight months ago, but the former coach and roster architect still has his fingerprints on the franchise.
Approaching the halfway point of Season 1 of the Detroit Pistons‘ latest new era, the team bears a striking resemblance to what it was under the old regime.
Many of Detroit’s key players this season were acquired during the reign of Stan Van Gundy, who served as the Pistons’ head coach and president of basketball operations from May 2014 until he was let go in May 2018. In four years, Van Gundy led the Pistons to a 152-176 (.463) record and one playoff appearance.
Leading scorer Blake Griffin was the gem of Van Gundy’s last big roster move, a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Clippers last year. Reggie Jackson, Reggie Bullock, Langston Galloway, Stanley Johnson and Ish Smith were also Van Gundy acquisitions.
That means six of Detroit’s top eight rotation players this season were brought in by Van Gundy. Then there’s Andre Drummond, the All-Star center who was with the Pistons before Van Gundy was hired. The only new player in Detroit’s top eight is rookie guard Bruce Brown Jr.
The Pistons’ new leadership — namely, head coach Dwane Casey and front office adviser Ed Stefanski — is therefore in a position similar to a college staff taking over a program filled with the previous staff’s recruits. They are going to require some time to get their kind of players into the fold, and hopefully Pistons fans (and ownership) will be patient enough to allow that process to take place.
Through Saturday’s schedule, Detroit is 17-20, on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff picture looking in.
Some of Van Gundy’s defining moves happened during the NBA Draft. He oversaw four drafts for the Pistons, which included two Lottery picks. Some of his choices were hits, while some were clear misses. Some are still on the roster today, helping shape the franchise’s next chapter.
Here are the best and worst of Van Gundy’s draft picks.