Highlights of Detroit Pistons executive Ed Stefanski’s radio interview

Ed Stefanski is in charge of the Detroit Pistons’ front office. On a recent interview, he discussed recent signings, draft picks, Reggie Jackson and more.

Ed Stefanski has plenty of reason to smile following the Detroit Pistons offseason.

The Pistons are coming off a 41-41 season that included a playoff appearance as the eight seed, eventually getting swept by the Milwaukee Bucks.  The team’s senior adviser believes that they got better addressing three key areas, he discussed in a recent interview with 97.1 The Ticket.

His first key was that the Pistons big three of Reggie Jackson, Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond were healthy last season, with the exception of Griffin’s final four weeks. Jackson, especially, was key in playing all 82 games. But because he played doesn’t mean he was at full strength, as was the case early on.

"“We have to hope, Reggie Jackson came back last year with that ankle injury,” Stefanski said. “He didn’t start getting going to his top ability until more like January. Reggie had a terrific second half of the season.”"

Griffin suffered a knee injury late in the season, which caused him to miss the four of the regular season’s final six games and the first two games of the playoff series against the Bucks. It put a damper on what was a career season for him, earning All-NBA Third Team honors.

But he’s healthy and ready for another run.

"“He’s back on the court in LA,” Stefanski said. “We have checked him numerous times. He’s not killing himself. It’s early August but he’s ramping it up and he’ll be 100 percent in training camp.”"

Then there’s Drummond who’s entering the final year of his contract, though he has a player option for $28 million for the following season. Stefanski said “Andre seems like he wants to prove something.”

Stefanski added depth this summer by signing veteran point guard Derrick Rose and forward Markieff Morris. It’s depth that the Pistons didn’t have last year, improving over backup point guard Ish Smith and seemingly anybody in the frontcourt.

Those that question Rose’s health shouldn’t. Despite his documented injury history, Stefanski said that Rose was held out of games at the tail end of last season by the Minnesota Timberwolves.

"“We’re excited to have Derrick Rose and, at the end of last season – maybe the last 18 games – he could have played but where they were record-wise they decided to hold him out,” he said."

The excitement in Stefanski’s voice picked up when discussing their first round pick, Sekou Doumbouya. After admitting that Doumbouya has dealt with a hamstring issue, Stefanski said the Pistons have nothing like Doumbouya in the system.

"“He’s a 6-9, three-four man that we don’t have in the program,” Stefanski said. “We’ll see what happens but I think if you give this kid a year. I don’t see him playing a lot this year unless he surprises me and defensively he’s good enough where the coach won’t throw him in there, but this kid has things that we don’t have. Getting him at the 15 spot, we were excited that night.”"

It sounds as if Doumbouya will see limited time, which may foreshadow Michael Beasley‘s inclusion on the 15-man roster since Detroit is still light at the three spot. The acquisition of Tony Snell gives the Pistons a starter but only Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Doumbouya have the size to play small forward.

To close the interview, Stefanski was asked about Jackson and his upcoming contract year. The Pistons seem non-committal on what Jackson’s future is with the team. It’s going to be a wait-and-see approach.

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"Said Stefanski: “(Reggie)’s excited about the year. He gives you all different options. If Reggie gets rolling and we’re playing well, I see us try to roll the dice and go as far as we could.”"

There it sounds like the Pistons will look to make a deep playoff run. But then he doesn’t quite double down.

"“All players that get into the last year of their contract and are playing at a good clip, then you have options you could look at,” Stefanski said."

It’s fair to say that the Pistons have a postseason run in mind. A lot of things, especially health, will be a determining factor in what they can do. The wait-and-see approach regarding the players in contract years is smart, given that a long-term injury could derail Detroit’s plans for contention and could send them into a selling spiral.

What do you think of Stefanski’s comments and the overall offseason the Pistons have had? Let us know in the comments section or by liking Piston Powered on Facebook and following us on Twitter @PistonPowered.