The Detroit Pistons ended up signing Caris LeVert after missing out on Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a whiff they may regret.
LeVert has become the scapegoat after a couple of bad games, which isn’t completely fair to him, though he was –24 last night after going 1-of-10 from the field.
He’s had a few solid outings for the Pistons, and at some point, he’ll break out and have a big game, so it’s too early in the season to call LeVert a problem. But I will say that his defense has been surprisingly bad, which is something I didn’t fully expect, as he’s been a traffic cone on the perimeter.
In his defense, LeVert has been thrust into a strange role with Jaden Ivey also coming off the bench and both of them could benefit from having a point guard on the floor.
But when you look at the season Nickeil Alexander-Walker is having for the Hawks, it’s precisely what the Pistons need, and it seems like he was there for the taking.
The Detroit Pistons should have pushed harder for Nickeil Alexander-Walker
Early in free agency, the Pistons were rumored to be one of two teams circling around NAW, a move that seemed logical given Trajan Langdon’s connections to him from New Orleans.
Alexander-Walker has morphed into more of a 3-and-D wing after entering the league as a score-first point guard, but he can still handle some point guard duties at times and is a guy who can get his own shot.
He’s also a great defender, so would have fit in perfectly with Detroit’s culture and given them a scary bench defense with Ron Holland and Isaiah Stewart.
Alexander-Walker is currently averaging just over 20 points per game with 3.5 assists and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 46 percent from the floor and 39 percent from 3-point range on over seven attempts per game.
LeVert is actually shooting a higher percentage from 3-point range, but he’s only taking half the attempts. He’s also been poor at running the offense and has been a ball stopper at times with questionable shot selection.
It’s possible that NAW simply chose Atlanta, who had a clearer role for him at the time, as we didn’t know Jaden Ivey was going to get hurt again, but Atlanta paid him pretty much the exact salary the Pistons ended up giving LeVert.
The only difference is that NAW got two extra years on his deal, with the last one being a player option. That contract is looking like one of the best steals in the league right now.
You have to wonder if the Pistons balked at those extra years, as Langdon has been careful about giving out longer contracts to role players, but at that cost, it’s going to be a massive bargain that will keep getting better as the salary cap goes up.
Alexander-Walker is the younger player, better defender and better 3-point shooter, which are all things the Pistons could use, especially the 3-point shooting.
I’m not giving up on LeVert, as I know he has a couple of 30-point games in his bag waiting to come out, but NAW was the perfect answer for Detroit, a miss they may end up regretting.