The seasons from 2010 to 2020 are not years that Detroit Pistons fans care to remember. With two playoff appearances, both ending in sweeps, there isn’t much positivity to take out of the decade. But for the few that happened to watch during those times, there was a certain year, not even one of the playoff years, that some might argue had the best and most watchable Pistons basketball of the decade. This season was the very up and down 2014-15 season.
Starting the year 5-23 under new head coach and president of basketball operations, Stan Van Gundy, the team struggled to find any consistency on the court, and with the logjam they had up front, it’s not hard to see why. Trotting out a starting lineup headlined by three big men that can’t shoot the ball was an interesting strategy that clearly was not working out. Most pointed blame at Josh Smith, whom the Pistons gave a hefty contract to years prior.
Detroit called every team in the league but not one wanted to take Smith in a trade. With the team desperate for change and new life, they waived and stretched Josh Smith and his stretched contract could be seen on the cap sheet for many years after.
The Josh Smith era was over, and so also began a beautiful stretch of basketball. For a team that started out the year so terribly, could waiving one player really change that much? Apparently, the answer is yes because the Pistons would go on to win seven games in a row and 10 of their next 11 directly after waiving Smith.
Detroit Pistons: Brandon Jennings was a spark in Detroit
The player that mostly headlined these wins was none other than starting point guard Brandon Jennings. Jennings was acquired by the Pistons in a deal that involved Brandon Knight and a young guard named Khris Middleton who not many thought much of at the time. Jennings was seen as a bit of a wildcard on the court. Some nights he could be the best player on the floor and other nights he might shoot you out of a game. The latter could not be further from the truth in this stretch of games and his season after this.
Detroit Pistons: Brandon Jennings had a magical but short run
In 14 games in December, Jennings was averaging 9.3 ppg, on .324/.273 shooting splits. In the Josh Smith-less month of January, Jennings averaged 20.9 ppg, on .435/.388 shooting splits, as well as doubling his three point attempts and makes. He was an absolute maestro with the ball in his hands and was a joy to watch. Fans felt like they finally found their point guard of the future for the first time since Chauncey Billups was on the team.
One of the more memorable games of the 15 that Jennings played after the Smith trade was against the Orlando Magic on January 15th, 2015, a game that put the Detroit Pistons in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, firmly in the playoff hunt, after being 14th for much of the season, just ahead of the process 76ers.
The Pistons dominated the Magic, beating them 128 to 118 at The Palace. In this game Andre Drummond boasted a stat-line of 26 points and 17 rebounds, which would have been the best performance of the night, if not for a 24 point, 21 assist night from Brandon Jennings. If you’re a fan of the alley-oop, they were on display all night. Jennings had the ball on a string, dishing it to his big men in the pick and roll and in transition in every point guard’s dream of a basketball game.
It was one of the most entertaining games of the decade for the Pistons and fans finally thought things would be back on a rise. But as happens in Detroit sports, disaster must soon follow every high point.
Detroit Pistons: What could have been for Brandon Jennings
In a game, ironically against his former team, the Milwaukee Bucks, Brandon Jennings went down with a foot injury. Writhing in pain on the ground, fans knew this was something serious. Jennings was diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon and his season would end right there and then. It would take an entire calendar year for us to see Jennings suit up again, but he would never be his old self.
It’s hard for an injury to be as devastating as this one for a player and a team. Jennings, seemingly a rising star, has his rise put on hold to a freak injury. The Pistons playoff hopes, also now were looking bleak. The Pistons would go on to stay in the fight until the end after trading for Reggie Jackson, who would end up being Jennings’ replacement, but came up well short of a playoff berth.
Recently, on the HoopsHype podcast Jennings stated that if not for his Achilles tear, he believes the Pistons would have gone on to make the playoffs and he would have gotten paid. At the time the East was packed with talented guards, so it would have been difficult for Jennings to make it, but when you’re putting up 20-point, 20-assist games, you’ll definitely garner some attention.
I like to think there’s an alternate universe out there where Brandon Jennings doesn’t get hurt and the Pistons go on to make the playoffs for the next few years to come. As we know, they would end up winning 44 games the year after Jennings went down, led by Reggie Jackson and company, and Jennings would be traded for Tobias Harris. But in this alternate universe, the Pistons never end up trading for Reggie Jackson, as Jennings is the point guard they’ve been waiting for.
They would go into the 2015-2016 season after a playoff berth in the prior year with Jennings the leader of this young team. Instead of Drummond being named an all star in the 15-16 season, it would be Jennings named the Pistons all star as people would see him as the leader and the reason Drummond is so successful on the court. The Pistons would probably never end up making the panic Blake Griffin move, Stan Van Gundy might not have been fired, and things would look completely different right now.
But these are all hypotheticals. Jennings went on to play a few more years in the league as a backup point guard and is now retired and coming off celebrating a championship with his first love of Milwaukee, where many believe he gave a culture to. If not for injuries, him and his flashy playing style could have built a culture and an intriguing team in the motor city. Sadly, it wasn’t meant to be, but it’s still interesting to see how much would be different had Brandon never sustained that Achilles tear.