Around the ‘net: An upbeat Reggie Jackson and Detroit Pistons transitional year

It was an interesting final week of August for the Detroit Pistons, largely due to Andre Drummond’s pending free agency.

Last week’s coverage largely focused a year in transition for the Detroit Pistons, stemming from Andre Drummond’s remarks about how he’s looking forward to free agency. He later backtracked his comments to say he’s looking forward to the process of free agency.

The Detroit Pistons will likely lose their star player after season’s end, though he does have a player option worth $28.8 million for 2020-21. Drummond was correct when he said he’s one of the top player’s on the free agent market, especially in the frontcourt.

That leaves a belief that the Pistons enter a transitional year, seemingly improved following a 41-41 season and the eighth playoff seed. The hopes that they could improve on that are strong, despite what those outside of Detroit are saying. But they have a lot of money coming off the books, which could change the outlook for the Pistons’ future.

Without further ado, let’s get to this week’s top hits.

Supporting local journalism

Pistons trade chips: How Detroit could look drastically different by next year – The Athletic ($), James Edwards III
-Edwards touches on the reality of how the Pistons could change by analyzing the Pistons trade pieces.

Rejuvenated Reggie Jackson ‘in a good state of mind’ heading into contract year with Pistons – Detroit News, Rod Beard
-This is a great feature on Reggie Jackson, looking at how he faced “basketball depression,” Arnie Kander helped in a great way and the excitement he has for this year.

Pistons Mailbag – True Blue Pistons, Keith Langlois
-Langlois unpacks a lot of Pistons’ fans questions, including the new jerseys, outlook of Luke Kennard, Sekou Doumbouya and more.

ICYMI at Piston Powered

3 questions surrounding Andre Drummond’s free agency – Aaron Ferguson
-In-between the remarks Drummond made, it left a few questions that need to be answered behind closed doors.

Predicting the Pistons’ 2019-20 starting lineup – Sean McFadden
-McFadden makes his case for the best Pistons starting unit and breaks down why.

Best Pistons small-ball lineup in 2019-20 – Jon Young
-With the growing number of teams using smaller lineups, Young takes a look at how the Pistons could matchup.

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Pistons best late-game lineup in 2019-20 – Tredell Suber
-Which starting five will be the best at closing games? Suber offers his spin on this Pistons lineup.

Where are the Pistons draft picks of the last 10 years? – David Borowicz
-This is a good look at how the Pistons have drafted over the last decade and how those prospects turn out.

Pistons rotation questions that need to be answered – Spyros Papadakos
-Papadakos takes a look at several things the Pistons need to answer about their rotations.

Poetic journey of the Detroit Pistons – Eli Bashi
-Storytelling comes in many different forms and here is the Pistons’ journey in poem form.

Looking ahead to a potential trade deadline wishlist – Richard Davisson
-Here are a handful of trades that the Pistons could be looking at, depending on where they sit in the Eastern Conference standings at the trade deadline

5 Andre Drummond trades – Blake Stackpoole
-Should things go South for the Pistons, Drummond could be dealt with his pending free agency and here are five deals Detroit could make.

Around the ‘net

Who should be taking clutch shots? A look at heroes in the East – The Athletic ($), Zach Harper
-For each team in the East, Harper looks at who each team will use, who they should use, shouldn’t use and the best bet.

Are we sure … the Knicks don’t have a plan? – The Ringer, Haley O’Shaughnessy
-This is an interesting series The Ringer is diving into and O’Shaughnessy dives into why there’s a purpose for the Knicks signings of so many power forwards.

A brave new world: Five teams that can beat Team USA – The Ringer, Danny Chau
-As USA Basketball heads to the FIBA World Cup, it’s good to face the reality that they may not medal and here are a look at the teams that could beat them.

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