3 things the Detroit Pistons would like to re-do in the last 10 years

Moving on too soon

Now, this section of the article is where some push back can happen, but as I said, this is all an opinion with hindsight being 20/20. Over the last decade, the Detroit Pistons have moved on from some players that have gone on to flourish. Maybe they’ve had better situations or coaches or a better opportunity, but seeing the players excel elsewhere is kind of frustrating, just like how the starting rotation of the 2014 Detroit Tigers have now all won a World Series ring. Fernando Rodney also won a ring this year.

The player that comes to my mind is Spencer Dinwiddie. As a member of the Pistons, Dinwiddie bounced around from the Grand Rapids Drive, the Pistons’ G League affiliate, to the main roster fairly often.

He appeared in 46 games from 2014-16, averaging 4.4 points and 2.7 assists in 13.3 minutes per game. With the Brooklyn Nets, Dinwiddie has doubled his minutes per game at 26.8. His shooting splits of .42/.33/.80 have led to him averaging 12.5 points per contest. His near 17 points per game off the bench last year resulted in finishing fourth in the Sixth Man of the Year voting.

In the 2016 offseason, Dinwiddie was traded to the Chicago Bulls for Cameron Bairstow. Both players were waived by their new teams on July 7. Dinwiddie re-signed with the Bulls three weeks later while Bairstow returned to his native Australia and has played professionally there since.

At the time, Dinwiddie didn’t really show the full range of his capabilities. He shot 17% from beyond the arc in 1.6 attempts per game. His effective field goal percentage was 34%. He didn’t have these flashes of being great.

He was stuck playing behind Reggie Jackson (understandable), Brandon Jennings (injured and rehabbing), Steve Blake (old but a veteran), and D.J. Augustin (a reliable and decent backup guard).

Yet, it still feels like Stan Van Gundy moved on a little prematurely. Come the summer of 2016, Jennings was still returning to full strength from his ruptured Achilles, Blake was unsigned and heading to Australia, and Jackson, though he appeared in 79 games that season, was still an injury risk. Blinded by the rose-tinted glasses that shine a light on the Dinwiddie of the present, it seems moving on from the then 22-year-old guard was jumping the gun a little too soon.