The Stan Van Gundy Front Office Chronicles
By Joe Imburgia
2016-17 Season
July 2016
The Pistons signed Ish Smith, Jon Leuer, and Boban Marjanovic to deals during free agency. Ish Smith and Boban Marjanovic signed three-year deals worth $18 million and $21 million respectively. Leuer’s deal meanwhile was worth $42 million over four years. Andre Drummond then signed a five-year $130 million contract to remain with the Pistons.
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Up to this point, all of the moves Stan Van Gundy has made with the Pistons have involved trying to assemble a young team with shooting potential around Andre Drummond similar to his Orlando Magic teams led by Dwight Howard. Van Gundy has tried to acquire players under multi-year contracts who fit with the Pistons age and talent wise.
Almost if not all the moves the Pistons have made during Van Gundy’s front office tenure, should be considered successful and positive moves. This is even more impressive, when you consider the large volume of moves Van Gundy has made in his two years as president of basketball operations.
He has done all this while not mortgaging valuable future assets such first round picks or talented young players which is a lot easier said than done. His free agent and trade targets haven’t been big name players but they could turn out to be the right players for this team.
Next: Grading the Detroit Pistons offseason
The Pistons have made smart and efficient moves that have re-energized the organization with a young and talented roster. This has them positioned to grow together as they attempt to take the next step as a team towards being a championship contender.