What will Stan Van Gundy do with the remaining Pistons’ roster spots?
By Lennie King
Aaron Brooks
The 6-foot-tall point guard out of the University of Oregon is yet to be offered a new contract with the Chicago Bulls. Whether that’s due to salary cap issues since Chicago have gone after and now signed Dwyane Wade or not, we’ll have to wait and see. Aaron Brooks has had a strange career path in the NBA. In the 2009-10 season Brooks started every game for the Houston Rockets and averaged a career high 19.6 points with 5.3 assists in 35.6 minutes a game. These averages won Brooks the Most Improved Player award for the season.
The following year, Brooks averaged a whopping 12 minutes less per game before being traded to the Phoenix Suns for Goran Dragic. Since the trade, Aaron Brooks hasn’t been able to find the form he had in that 2009-10 season. He’s had spurts in his past two seasons with the Bulls, stepping up in Derrick Rose‘s absence, but never quite found his old stride. Here’s a little something he can still do, though.
In the right environment and under the tutelage of coach Van Gundy I think Brooks could potentially add great depth at the point guard position for the Pistons. He’s shown he can play, he’d bring a different element to the team and wouldn’t cost much at all. Speed and instant offense off the bench for those games where Ish Smith can’t find the bottom of the net.
Brooks is 31 years old. Not old enough to be a liability when on the court, but experienced enough to help out this very young Detroit squad. He’s a career 37 percent three-point shooter and 84 percent free throw shooter, too. Numbers that could help this bench unit out when they’re slumping.
Next: Greivis Vasquez