Via ClutchPoints
Key Players: Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin, Reggie Jackson
The year is 2014. Marijuana just got legalized in Colorado. Same-sex marriage is being legalized throughout the states. This is a time of optimism.
Pistons owner Tom Gores, fresh off the five-year, $35 million investment in Stan Van Gundy, exuded that optimism when he stated, "Stan is more than just a great coach, he's a great leader. What I'm most excited about is how Stan can help us shape the franchise and instill what it means to be the best. He's also a great communicator. My time with Stan has me convinced that he will bring our players, team, and community to a very proud place."
The year is 2018. Kanye West is tweeting about abolishing the abolishment of slavery. Kim Kardashian is meeting with the president over prison reform. This is a time of confusion.
Former Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy represents the times with his statement of "feeling lost" since his parting with the team. Whether it be a sign of the times or from the questionable moves by Van Gundy, the Pistons share the feelings of their former coach.
In a last-ditch effort to salvage a lost season, Detroit traded some of the best-supporting members in the NBA, Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris, along with fan favorite Boban Marjanovich plus a first-round and second-round draft pick for Clippers star power forward Blake Griffin and a second-round pick. Immediately following the trade, the Pistons went on to win five straight and looked to have the one thing the Eastern conference couldn't handle -- a pair of dominant bigs in, Andre Drummond and Blake Griffin. Those looks proved deceitful as Detroit followed their winning streak by losing six of their next seven games by an average of 17.2 points.
After failing to make the playoffs, the Griffin trade was donned a failure and Van Gundy's time of calling the shots in Detroit were over. His replacement, and the biggest addition in the team's offseason comes in the form of the NBA's 2018 Coach of the Year, Dwane Casey. To understand just how little room Van Gundy and the $100 million plus in next year's guaranteed contracts left the Pistons, look no further than the team's big offseason additions of Finals MVP-snubs Jose Calderon and Zaza Pachulia.
Detroit's Best Case Scenario
Via PistonPowered
While pondering the idea of what exactly is Detroit's best case scenario, the term 'how to escape purgatory' was searched on Google. Things got way too deep way too fast. The seven deadly sins came into play and something about the seven layers of purgatory. The main point of including that information was to let it be known that the Pistons' escape from basketball purgatory has no foundation; instead, the only similarity between the Pistons' escape and that of trapped souls is that numbers are involved.
Detroit's Three Step Purgatory Escape Plan
Step 1.) Move on from Stan Van Gundy.
Would you look at that, Detroit has already achieved step one of four. "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Previously playing the roles of team president and head coach, Van Gundy had too much power and responsibility. With Ed Stefanski and Dwane Casey now splitting the weight one man carried, the Pistons should look more professional on and off the court.
Step 2.) Lean on the Drummond-Griffin duo.
Despite neither being the best in their respective positions, the Andre Drummond-Blake Griffin pairing is offensively the best power forward-center combo in the Eastern Conference. Admittedly their combined 35 points a night doesn't pop off the page, but it's the passing ability of the two bigs that could make Detroit dangerous. Andre Drummond averaged a career-high 3 assists a night last season, while Blake Griffin also saw his
assist averages spike to 6.2 upon his arrival. That's almost 10 assists a night from a duo that can dominate the paint. This creates a number of scoring opportunities for themselves and others. Which brings us to the next step:
Step 3.) Develop the wings.
With four California high school State championships under his belt, Stanley Johnson is arguably the greatest high school basketball player ever; yet, now entering his fourth year in the league, Johnson has failed to even average double-digits in the scoring column. Released from the rookie shackles of Stan Van Gundy, Luke Kennard is primed for a breakout season in Detroit. The 6'5 wing is coming off a 41 percent three-point shooting rookie season and should see a number of open looks receiving kick outs from Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond. With Stanley Johnson being selected five picks ahead of a star in Devin Booker and Kennard being selected literally right before Donovan Mitchell, the pressure is on for the Detroit wings to show their selection was justifiable.
Detroit's Worst Case Scenario
Via Grantland
Was the above picture of Bobby Shmurda chose to serve as a cheap joke on how he and Reggie Jackson look alike? Or was it chosen to illustrate the parallel between a talented artist not being able to show off said talent due to physical restrictions and a talented team not being able to show off said talent due to physical restrictions?
Yes.
Starting point guard B̶o̶b̶b̶y̶ ̶S̶h̶m̶u̶r̶d̶a̶ Reggie Jackson hasn't played more than 52 games since the 2015-2016 season. Blake Griffin has missed at least 15 games for the past four seasons. For a team scrapping to make the playoffs, the availability of top players is a must. Throw in the fact that Griffin and Jackson are the best playmakers on the team and their health becomes even more important.
Despite increasing his ability to anchor the offense as well he does the defense, Andre Drummond being forced to be an offense's main source is as bad it gets.
Record Prediction: 44-38; Deeeeeetrooooooiiiiiit basketball and Dwane Casey escape basketball purgatory as they make it to the playoffs.