I fixed the Detroit Pistons using NBA 2K18

Using NBA 2K18, I stepped into the role of General Manager of the Detroit Pistons and made some trades to make the Pistons poised for success this season.

After losing on national television against the Washington Wizards, the Detroit Pistons may need to be one of the most active teams as the trade deadline nears.

With that in mind, I used NBA 2K18 to make moves that put the Pistons in better position to win not only this season, but also in the near future as well.

Pistons Trade for Star Point Guard

When Reggie Jackson went down with an ankle injury in late-December, thoughts of the disappointing 2016-17 Pistons were evoked. They struggled to score points, despite having a decent defensive effort to show.

Andre Drummond took a step back last season with his partner-in-crime on offense out with knee injury.

So it really comes to no surprise that the Pistons are struggling on offense once again.

The Pistons are currently the 5th worst team in terms of offensive rating and Andre Drummond is once again seeing regressions in Jackson’s absence. The Pistons’ net rating with Drummond on the court is roughly eight points lower since Jackson’s injury compared to a healthy Reggie Jackson leading the offense.

So if Andre Drummond’s game is greatly affected by adequate point guard play, then the best course of action would be to bring in a starting-caliber point guard to the squad.

So I made a trade for Kemba Walker.

Walker has been on the trading block since Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported that Charlotte is willing to part ways with the talented point guard.

I knew that Charlotte was riddled with bad contracts, with nearly $87 million tied up in players not named Kemba Walker, that they would require me to take on one (or more) of those contracts in order to acquire Walker.

Here’s the trade that I made:

In this deal, the Pistons would acquire their point guard of the future in Kemba Walker, but also get a nice piece in Michael Kidd-Gilchrist that can defend at a high level. They also absorb Kidd-Gilchrist’s contract in the process, but send out Reggie Jackson’s as well.

The Hornets don’t really get the cap relief that they desire since the contracts of Kidd-Gilchrist and Jackson are relatively equal, but they do receive a nice piece in Henry Ellenson and the 2018 2nd round pick. Most importantly, they avoid the inevitable Walker max extension (or him walking away for nothing).

In short, Stan Van Gundy fleeces yet another team and capitalizes on internal struggles. There was no reason for the Hornets to leak that Walker was available but because it was, it allowed for the value for him to drop.

Pistons Bring Back an Old Friend

On Friday, news broke that Jon Leuer would officially miss the rest of the season with season-ending surgery scheduled. His presence has been missed because the Pistons have lacked a stretch big outside of Anthony Tolliver (who’s been nothing short of brilliant on both ends of the court).

Also on Friday, Stanley Johnson officially made his return to the Pistons rotation after missing time with a hip flexor injury. Although he played well defensively and made one of two from three, the Pistons still lack knockdown shooting from the wing position – a key ingredient in the success of Stan Van Gundy’s system.

With that in mind, here’s the second trade I made:

In this trade the Pistons bring back Jonas Jerebko, who not only shoots it from a high percentage from beyond the arc (42.7 percent this season), at 6’10” he has the ability to play either forward position and even center in some cases.

The Pistons also receive Alec Burks, who is shooting 34.3 percent from three and holds positional versatility at either the shooting guard or small forward position as well. Out of the two Jazz guards, Hood and Burks, Burks has a contract that runs through next season.

If the Pistons want to remain competitive next season, they’ll need a guy who can backfill Avery Bradley’s potential departure. Hood’s contract ends this season and he’ll be looking for a substantial raise this summer.

The most important thing to note about both players are that they’d be playing alongside Ish Smith, who looks for open shooters by penetrating and kicking the ball out – which is especially conducive to shooters who are efficient at spot-up shooting. Not only are Jerebko and Burks good spot-up shooters, Burks has over one-third of his threes assisted on while Jerebko has just over half.

The Jazz not only get future assets in the 2019 1st round pick (lottery protected) and Stanley Johnson, who could really grow in the Jazz system that places a priority on defense, but they get those pieces at the small cost of acquiring Jon Leuer’s declining contract.

Pistons Trade for a Backup Center

On Friday, the Pistons were simply terrible without Andre Drummond on the court. Drummond needed to play 43 minutes to keep the game competitive because Stan Van Gundy did not trust Eric Moreland to spell Drummond adequately enough to limit the damage the Wizards were doing in his absence.

Although he has a cult following, Boban Marjanovic has been somewhat of a failure in his time in Detroit. Once a per-36 minute superstar, Marjanovic has been replaced by Moreland as the departed Aron Baynes’ replacement.

In my next trade, I replace him and Moreland with a cheaper and more effective option at center.

In this trade, the Pistons receive a quality backup center in Salah Mejri. Mejri is not only a good pick-and-roll big man, he also ranks in the 95th percentile for scoring off of putbacks and 90th percentile for cuts to the basket. Mejri would vastly improve rebounding on a second unit that lacked any semblance of rebounding. He is averaging 12.3 rebounds per 36 minutes with just over 10 points per 36 minutes as well.

Mejri is also on an expiring contract, so he allows for some flexibility going forward at the center position.

The Mavericks get Eric Moreland and a 2019 2nd round pick out of the deal, so they not only get future assets but they also get a young big under control until 2020.

After simulating the season from today where the Pistons were 22-22 and 9th in the Eastern Conference, the Pistons experienced some growing pains with the new lineup for a few games but eventually finished 7th in the East.

Andre Drummond was named Defensive Player of the Year, All-NBA 2nd team, and All-Defensive 1st team.

After defeating the Boston Celtics in the 1st round and the Miami Heat in the 2nd round, the Pistons lost in 7 games to the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Finals.