The Detroit Pistons just completed a rebuilding season that most fans would consider a success.
The Pistons were able to shed some of their veterans, develop young talent and bring some excitement back to the city.
It was a masterclass in tanking, led by GM Troy Weaver, who has already shown he has an eye for talent is not afraid to be aggressive to go after it.
The first-year GM was very busy this season, making a flurry of deals that would leave Sekou Doumbouya as the only leftover player from the last regime.
Weaver wanted a clean slate and he got it, and now he can build this team in his own vision, and already has a pretty good start with rookies Killian Hayes, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart.
Weaver’s first season was impressive, and almost every move he made paid off in some way.
Some transactions worked out better than others though, so here are the grades for every front office transaction of the 2020-21 season for the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit Pistons: Grading every transaction of 2020-21
Troy Weaver had a busy month of November, making a bunch of moves that made varying degrees of sense at the time. Some of them turned out well, while others are still a bit baffling.
November 18, 2020- Traded Cash to the Utah Jazz for Tony Bradley and Saben Lee
This didn’t look like much at the time, but ended up being a great move for Detroit, as they got Saben Lee for nothing more than a sack of cash. He ended up playing big minutes for the Pistons due to injury and even started seven games. Lee now looks like part of the future core.
Grade: A
November 19, 2020- Traded Luke Kennard, Bruce Brown and four second round picks for Saddiq Bey and Rodney McGruder
This trade got complicated and probably caused more outrage on Pistons’ Twitter than any other move, but not from me! I was ecstatic to see the back of Luke Kennard, who never should have been chosen, hasn’t been anything in the NBA and is now making $16 million to come off the bench and score 8 points a game. Saddiq Bey is already better, so this one worked out well for Detroit. Fans were SO UPSET over the four second-round picks, which again, was dumb, as second rounders are the easiest asset to get in the NBA. The Pistons have three of them in the upcoming draft.
The only loss here was Bruce Brown, who had a nice season in Brooklyn, but he was destined to be a role player on a good team, not a key part of a bad one, so I am happy for Bruce, but not concerned that the Pistons let him go. This one worked out pretty well for Detroit, who cut some of the dead weight from the former regime and got a foundational piece of the future.
Grade: A+