Central Division
Last season’s record: 29-53
Roster Additions
NBA Draft: G- Spencer Dinwiddie
Free Agency: D.J. Augustin, Caron Butler, Aaron Gray, Jonas Jerebko, Cartier Martin, Jodie Meeks and Greg Monroe (re-signed)
Roster Losses
Free Agency: Rodney Stuckey
Waived: Josh Harrellson and Peyton Siva
Season Overview
As much as it pains me to say this, the Detroit Pistons will be one of the worst teams in the NBA this year. There is not much hope for this roster as long as Joe Dumars’ shadow lingers over it. The entire city has been suckered into accepting this roster because of Dumars’ past success with the team. His success in creating the 2004 NBA Championship team had created a sense of acceptance for all of Dumars horrendous executive decisions after that title run. Dumars has drafted as poorly as Matt Millen in recent years, and has completed horrible trades and even more horrific free agency signings.
Many could argue that his signings of Charlie Villanueva, Ben Gordon and Josh Smith were the three worst signings of the past five seasons in the NBA. Dumars also plagued the start of Stan Van Gundy’s reign by attempting to right one of his wrongs with the trade of Ben Gordon. That trade resulted in the Pistons losing any chance of improving their roster substantially during the “deep” 2014 NBA Draft. Van Gundy was forced into making minor signings like Caron Butler, Aaron Gray, Cartier Martin, and D.J. Augustin.
Another thing that is now crippling any sort of progress is the soap-opera situation with Greg Monroe. Monroe can’t handle the fact that Andre Drummond is the featured man in Detroit and this past offseason he tried to threaten his way out of Detroit. The problem with his threat was that no other team would give him the max contract that he was hoping for, and he pouted his way back into a qualifying offer from the Pistons. Everyone is well aware of the issues that have occurred bringing Monroe, Drummond, and Josh Smith together in the same frontcourt.
With this new off-court issue with Monroe, the Pistons will be even more dysfunctional and lackluster than they were last year. Smith will continue to receive the brunt of the blame for any struggles the team has, and Monroe will have a sincere attitude issue as long as Drummond is around. Andre Drummond is the only positive for this team.
Another issue that could arise with this Pistons team is the uncertain play of the backcourt. Brandon Jennings was another terrible Dumars signing still hanging over this new regime. With the signings of D.J. Augustin and Jodie Meeks, there is a lot of pressure on Jennings to perform. This new competition is going to go one of two ways, either it will create a sense of urgency and spark a fire under Jennings to get him to be more responsible with his shot-making/decision-making or he will become frustrated and irritable with his role on the team and will revert back to his old ways. Jennings has a real chance to be a part of something substantial in the rebuild of the Pistons organization, but it is up to him on whether he will be a part of it or not.
Now we come to the most obvious and apparent issue with this team -- Josh Smith. Smith has clearly not gelled in the Motor City. His style of play, hard-headed nature, and seeming lack of effort or care has put him at odds with the organization and the Detroit fan-base as a whole. The Pistons have always had team-oriented play, defensive prowess, and a blue-collar attitude toward the game. Smith fits none of these criteria due to his horrible shot selection and obvious lack of any sort of care for the rest the team or his negative effect upon it. Smith is a huge sore spot for this team, and if the Pistons do not move him by the 2015 offseason, then this franchise will spiral downward for another 2-4 years.
With all this negativity there has to be a positive light, right? There is in the form of Andre Drummond. It cannot be emphasized enough how lucky the Pistons were to get Drummond as the ninth pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. If the Pistons did not have Drummond, they would be even worse off than they already are. Drummond is and will be all the Pistons are for the immediate future. Stan Van Gundy was hired on as the ringleader of this team to build around the one great piece it has in Drummond.
Gundy was able to do so in the far less successful market of Orlando when he had Dwight Howard. That type of team-building is what Gundy needs to do in Detroit, and hopefully Drummond doesn’t have the self-destructive qualities that have made Howard one of the most hated players in the NBA. The only positive that the Pistons have is that Drummond is one of the best young guys in the NBA and will soon be one of the best front court players in the league as well.
If the Pistons don’t surround Drummond with the right talent and support, then they will become the Houston Astros of the NBA and may dig themselves into a hole of which they will never get out. As an objective Pistons fan, I hope they take this rare moment to grab onto the powerful shoulders of Drummond to carry this historic franchise back into NBA prosperity.
Fantasy Watch
The fantasy watch for Detroit is quite simple -- take Andre Drummond! Drummond will be one of the biggest values of the 2014 NBA fantasy season. With Greg Monroe having his offseason issues with the Pistons and Josh Smith being at odds with Detroit Pistons fans, Drummond will dominate. Last season, Drummond averaged approximately 13-Points and 13-Rebounds on the Pistons in the midst of the Joe Dumars/Mo Cheeks/John Loyer turmoil of last season.
Drummond will get the rebounds and the blocks that your team will need this season. If he was able to perform as well as he did with that sort of organizational instability, then having SVG on his bench will create more productive minutes for Drummond. Taking Drummond will fill those categories for your team so you can take a weaker front-court compliment later in the draft and focus on backcourt players instead. Drummond is as sure-fire a fantasy player as there will be this season. His time with Team USA in the FIBA World Cup will do him good in rounding out his offensive game this season, and any fantasy owner will see the improvement. If you are considering any Pistons players on your team this year, go with Drummond or suffer the regret of not taking the best up-and-comer in the NBA.
Stay away from most of the other players on this team, but especially avoid Josh Smith and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Most of the players on Detroit’s roster will not do very well in nearly every offensive category. If your team is in need of rebounds, then there is a small chance that any of the front court starters will do you some good.
However, if your team needs Field-Goal Percentage or massive amounts of scoring, then this is the wrong team to look at. Josh Smith is the obvious choice to avoid due to his lack of Defensive Efficiency, but also because his offensive game is only going to get worse as the pressure to perform will grow under Stan Van Gundy. Jodie Meeks has a chance to shine in this new system, but even he will be a risk/reward player due to sharing time with Brandon Jennings, D. J. Augustine, Will Bynum, K.C.P., and Kyle Singler. The only risk you should be willing to make is Meeks, but even then, outside of Drummond, this entire team will almost certainly be a fantasy mess in 2014.
Fantasy MVP: Andre Drummond
Disappointing Player: the entire team minus Drummond
Fantasy Sleeper: Jodie Meeks (High risk, Medium reward)
2014-2015 Season Prediction
Record: 19 - 63
Team MVP: Andre Drummond
Most Improved Player: Jodie Meeks
Biggest Disappointment: Josh Smith