Stan Van Gundy recently talked with Grantland’s Zach Lowe about the Detroit Pistons’ upcoming season.
One of the topics that arose during the interview was whether or not Stanley Johnson would start this season.
Van Gundy had this to say (hat tip to Vince Ellis, Detroit Free press):
"“Here’s the thing I’ve even said to our own players, Zach, when you go 32-50, nobody’s got a spot locked in. I’m looking for whoever gives us the best chance to win. So the answer to that is yes.“At either (shooting guard) or (small forward). If him being in the starting lineup is our best chance to win, ahead of (Kentavious) Caldwell-Pope or Marcus Morris, yeah, he’ll start.”"
Johnson will probably spend most of his minutes at small forward next season. Because of his strength, defensive capabilities, and rebounding, he should see some minutes at power forward too, which may be the Pistons’ weakest position with Anthony Tolliver backing up Ersan Ilyasova.
Johnson also has the skill set to play shooting guard, but I hadn’t thought about him much in that role because Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks had already cemented themselves as the first and second string players–though both were inconsistent last year.
If Morris and Johnson play well together in practice–better than Caldwell-Pope and Johnson, or Caldwell-Pope and Morris–than those two should start.
But I’m not sure Johnson should spend most of his minutes at the two. That would leave the Pistons awfully thin off the bench with Caldwell-Pope playing out of position behind Morris. If the Pistons went in that direction, Van Gundy would need to make quick subs for either Johnson or Morris so that either could play quality minutes with the second unit before getting too tired.
That seems pointless to have both Johnson and Morris start, only to sub one of them out almost immediately so that the second unit can have a strong option at small forward.
I suppose the Pistons could also look to sub out Ilyasova first and play him with Tolliver on the second unit, but this would mean he plays small forward while Morris play’s power forward with the first unit. I doubt Van Gundy is looking to play Ilyasova there with Johnson and Morris on the roster.
Instead, Van Gundy should just stick with what he’s got at shooting guard. Caldwell-Pope is entering just his third season and could still develop into a nice player. His play has been inconsistent away from the Palace, but I think he can be a 15-18 point scorer.
I don’t mind Johnson playing some minutes at shooting guard, particularly if he’s effective, but Van Gundy’s best move should be to start the player at small forward that performs best between Morris and Johnson.
Next: Stanley Johnson ranked 6th most NBA-ready rookie