SI grades the Detroit Pistons and the rest of the Central Division
By Duncan Smith
As the Detroit Pistons wind up their offseason moves, SI has ranked the Pistons and the rest of the Central Division’s summer changes.
Now that the majority of the NBA has completed their offseason moves, major media outlets are coming out with their summer rankings of the Detroit Pistons and the rest of the league. Recently Basketball Insiders ranked the Pistons fourth in the Central Division which is an uncharitable ranking to say the least.
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SI took their turn assessing the Pistons and the rest of the Central on Monday. They didn’t love the Pistons’ offseason, but they didn’t castigate the team for the moves they made either.
SI approved strongly of the way the Pistons constructed their new-and-improved bench. The Pistons had one of the most productive starting units in the NBA but had countless leads squandered by an inept bench. As a result, the organization prioritized addressing weaknesses at the reserve power forward and point guard positions with signings of Jon Leuer and Ish Smith.
In SI’s Jeremy Woo’s own words:
"Detroit had a nice showing last season, all things considered. But fact that the Pistons managed a playoff trip and stayed healthy while playing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope 40 minutes a night and Marcus Morris for 36 is a small miracle. Stan Van Gundy addressed those issues immediately this summer.With Ish Smith, Jon Leuer and Boban Marjanovic (!) in the mix and rookie Henry Ellenson potentially able to offer some help, Detroit turned one of the East’s thinnest benches into a potential strength"
Conversely, Rohan Nadkarni was no fan of the spending the Pistons did in the frontcourt. Criticizing the Pistons’ worst move as an over-investment in the frontcourt, he goes on to say:
"The Pistons rightfully added depth to their iffy bench with the moves above, but Detroit still desperately lacks outside shooting from its guards. Reggie Jackson is the only regular rotational player who shot respectably from three last year, and he was far from lights out.The additions of Leuer and Ellenson can and will help, but Detroit’s lack of shooting from positions one through three will continue to make Andre Drummond’s life hard in a crowded paint."
SI’s writers agreed that the Pistons did well to address depth issues. The consensus was that Jon Leuer at the price of four years and $42 million was vastly superior to Ryan Anderson for half the price and that Ish Smith and his three-year $18 million contract was a small price to pay to replace Steve Blake.
As a result of all the acquisitions, they have concerns about the Pistons’ pending luxury tax bill, but SI graded the Pistons and their summer a solid C.
Next: 29 trades for the Pistons and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Rounding out the rest of the division, SI gave the Cleveland Cavaliers a B-, the Indiana Pacers a C+, the Chicago Bulls a D-, and the Milwaukee Bucks got a C-, leaving the Pistons right in the middle of the pack.