The Detroit Pistons had an offseason widely dismissed by the national media, but CBS Sports seems to be coming around on the trade for Avery Bradley.
The Detroit Pistons’ offseason and 2017-18 outlook was widely panned by much of the national media this summer. ESPN’s Kevin Pelton’s Real Plus Minus projection gave the Pistons 35.1 wins next season. Bleacher Report gave them the Worst Front Office award for the offseason they’ve had so far.
Even here on Piston Powered, we’ve had a somewhat grim view on a couple of the moves the Pistons made, although as a staff we feel like the team did have a successful offseason overall.
It looks like at least one of the big outlets are starting to lighten up on the trade for Avery Bradley, even considering that the Pistons essentially let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope go for nothing as a result. On Monday, Brad Botkin of CBS Sports included that deal as one of his “top five under-the-radar moves” of the offseason.
"In the Pistons’ case, they landed one of the league’s nastiest perimeter defenders and a very capable shooter — 39 percent from deep last season. That’s a remarkable number for a guy who came into the league as something of a brick layer, or at least someone you would gladly leave open. Now he is a 16-point, six-rebound-a-night guy who immediately might be Detroit’s best player.In a contract year and playing for a potential max deal, don’t rule out Bradley as an All-Star in the East. Plus, he makes half of what Reggie Jackson makes. Hell, he barely makes more than Detroit is paying Langston Galloway. Add it all up, and this is a great get for the Pistons — a major upgrade from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at a bargain price."
This very succinctly summarizes the deal. While the Pistons will live to regret it if Bradley walks next summer as a free agent, that might be easier to swallow than paying KCP a fortune worth of long-term money This is especially true if the player he turns out to be down the road more closely resembles the mess he was in the second half of last season.
This summer was not the time to have to decide if the current core was worth going all-in for. Reggie Jackson’s health must be ascertained. Andre Drummond‘s status as a premiere big man must be decided. This roster being worth going into the luxury tax for should be decided next year, when these questions have been answered in this pivotal season.
Next: Best and worst case scenarios for Andre Drummond
If Avery Bradley wants to stay a Piston, he’ll get his max money. The Detroit Pistons may need to be a playoff team in order to even be able to woo him with a big contract like that, but if they aren’t a playoff team next season, they need to blow the whole thing up anyway.