It’s early, but Detroit Pistons’ young players look promising

The Detroit Pistons haven’t got much contribution from its draft classes in the Stan Van Gundy era. It’s early, but it looks like that is going to change this season with the performances of Stanley Johnson, Henry Ellenson, and Luke Kennard.

One of the biggest criticisms fans have had about the Detroit Pistons is the team’s lack of ability to develop young players.

Stan Van Gundy was supposed to take promising big man Andre Drummond to next level, and that hasn’t really happened. Then, fans expected some level of development and production out of Stanley Johnson considering his draft status as the eight pick in the 2015 NBA draft, yet he’s regressed over the last three years.

Moreover, all of the other draft picks in the Van Gundy area have had minimal bench contributions, or are playing for other teams.

Yes, I realize these “other players” are mostly second round picks (Spencer Dinwiddie, Darrun Hilliard), but the bottom line is the Pistons have had minimal output through the draft, and minimal development for younger players, which is a big concern considering Detroit historically has not been able to land big-time free agents in the offseason.

But two games through the preseason, gulp, things look to be different.

Don’t get me wrong, putting too much stock into two preseason games is foolish. but what we have seen at least gives us optimism that this season will be different for the contributions of the young draft picks that have been hand picked by Van Gundy and his staff.

Take a look at the roles and numbers through two preseason games for Van Gundy’s last three first round picks:

Stanley Johnson: Starting forward, 9.0 points, 43.8% from the field, 37.5% from three, four rebounds.
Henry Ellenson: First man off the bench, 13.0 points, 60.0% from the field, 50.0% from three, 2.5 rebounds.
Luke Kennard: Rotation player, 9.5 points, 44.4% from the field, 33.3% from three, 2.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists.

Again, let’s not over react. No way Ellenson shoots 50% from the field or 60% from three, but assuming Van Gundy is playing the players in the way he intends to during the regular season, all of his first round picks in the last three drafts figure to play significant roles in the upcoming season–and better yet, they are all playing really well.

Next: Piston reserve bigs stand out in win against Hawks

For the Pistons’ sake, let’s hope this is no mirage.