Jon Leuer has become a punch-line for the Detroit Pistons. But as he enters his third season in Motown, he stands as a vital player for this team.
“But Jon Leuer is overpaid.”
Yes, this is true. Very true, in fact.
Like many players during that fateful summer of 2016, Jon Leuer ended up getting paid more money than he had any right to be.
He had all of two seasons as any sort of regular rotation player. and wasn’t all that remarkable during that time. But Stan Van Gundy decided that the Detroit Pistons needed a bigger option at power forward, so in came Leuer.
As his play declined in his first season, and then so little was spent the following off-season, it became abundantly clear that the Pistons had made a terrible mistake in giving him that money.
This was only compounded last year, when Leuer was sidelined for all but the first eight games of the season.
But this isn’t about his contract. It’s about the player, and this player is someone who the Detroit Pistons will need badly.
Proven off the bench
Jon Leuer’s importance to the team is really quite simple. On Detroit’s current roster, he stands as the only player who is proven as a competent contributor at either big spot off the bench.
Zaza Pachulia is older than dirt, and fell out of the rotation last year with the Golden State Warriors. Henry Ellenson is utterly unproven, and in the limited action we’ve seen from him, it hasn’t been good.
In theory, either one of Glenn Robinson III or Stanley Johnson could end up playing minutes at the four. But neither player has done so at the NBA level. In fact, both have played a significant amount of time at shooting guard instead of power forward.
This shortcoming is even more pressing when you consider that if the Pistons are smart, they will plan on Blake Griffin missing 10-20 games this season.
A world without Leuer is one where Ellenson ends up starting for 10-20 games and has to play major minutes. This is a world that could see Ellenson guarding Anthony Davis or LaMarcus Aldridge for significant stretches.
This is not a world I want to live in.
Two-way play
Even when he’s playing poorly, Leuer brings a degree of two-way competence that the Pistons don’t have elsewhere on the bench.
Maybe Ellenson will put it together, but even if he does, he’s almost certainly going to be a problem on defense. Maybe Pachulia still has something left in the tank. But old players can break down quickly.
I still have high hopes for Johnson as a small-ball four. But unless he has some sort of epiphany, he remains a huge problem on offense.
Even if Leuer never finds his 3-point shot back, (which may or may not happen) he is an efficient scorer.
In his first year with Detroit, despite shooting just 29.3 percent from deep, Leuer managed a true-shooting percentage of 55.1 percent. That’s even more impressive, considering that Detroit sported the worst overall true-shooting percentage in basketball.
Leuer was still comfortable shooting from closer distances, along with posting up, and shooting over smaller guys on switches. Against some of the slower bigs in the league, his ability to put it on the floor is a real weapon.
The little things
He’s also a solid roll man, and has a good touch to finish in traffic. Not to mention that Leuer has enough mass to bruise with other bigs down low for put-backs and other tough finishes.
He’s also a really good passer, and a player who likes to run the floor. His ball handling ability makes him very effective at doing so.
On the defensive end, Leuer is far from a high-level defender. But he works hard and knows his place.
His size allows him to compete with all but the biggest and strongest specimens in the NBA, and he has the speed to stay with most forwards.
Leuer struggles with high-level offensive players, but that’s hardly a crime. The Detroit Pistons also rebounded at a very high level when he shared the floor with Andre Drummond.
Bottom line
Even if his 3-point shot never returns, Leuer is an overpaid player, yet a valuable one to have on your team.
His wide-ranging skills allow him to play two different positions. And if he can find his shot back, the money he was given won’t look as brutal.
Leuer could slot in as a power forward providing (at least minimal) spacing for Drummond rim-runs. He can be the rim runner/grunt at center next to Griffin.
Finally, he could be a transition and mismatch hunter with bench mobs, and can defend a variety of players with some competence.
The Pistons will need him to stay healthy this year.
If he can regain a higher level of play, something closer to his last year with the Suns or his early-season days with the Pistons, Leuer could be hugely valuable – beyond the fact that the Pistons probably have no better options.