Since the Cavaliers won their first NBA title back on June 19, NBA teams have undergone a number of changes over the long summer offseason. NBA.com’s Shaun Powell will evaluate the state of each franchise — from the team with the worst regular-season record in 2015-16 to the team with the best regular-season record — during the month of September as we look at 30 Teams in 30 Days. | Complete schedule
Today’s team: Detroit Pistons
2015-16 record: 44-38
Who’s gone: G Spencer Dinwiddie, G Jodie Meeks, F Anthony Tolliver
Who’s new: PF Henry Ellenson, SG Michael Gbinije (via Draft); F Jon Leuer, C Boban Marjanovic, G Ray McCallum Jr., G Ish Smith (via free agency); F-C Cameron Bairstow (via trades)
The lowdown: After seven straight losing seasons, the Pistons made the playoffs and appear to be on the up and up.
For two straight seasons, the Pistons used the trade deadline, not the summer, to fortify the club for the better. First they added 26-year-old Reggie Jackson in 2015 from the Oklahoma City Thunder and then last summer gave him a contract extension that looks very team-friendly now. Before the 2016 trade deadline, the Pistons gave the Orlando Magic a used Vinnie Johnson jersey for 24-year-old Tobias Harris, who looked surprisingly comfortable upon arrival. Both players are just touching their prime and were terrific, low-cost moves by Stan Van Gundy, who’s juggling both coaching and team president duties.
This summer? Well, Van Gundy didn’t need to be a genius to extend his All-Star center Andre Drummond, who is just 22. Van Gundy also signed Marjanovic and Leuer and drafted Ellenson to give Detroit a surplus of big men. While many others league-wide are playing small ball, Van Gundy dares to be different and it could pay off positively for the Pistons both now and the near future.
There are only a handful of coaches who have personnel power, and that dual role can be tricky for some (Los Angeles Clippers coach/team president Doc Rivers has a sketchy history, for example). Following his messy exit from the Orlando Magic, Van Gundy wanted power in his next job and the Pistons, after a series of missteps in ex-GM Joe Dumars’ last few years, were willing to give Van Gundy that clout.
It wasn’t merely about showing his skills as a talent evaluator — GM Jeff Bower does most of the legwork — Van Gundy didn’t want anyone telling him whom to play or trade, and he wanted to build a team in his vision, not someone else’s.
The Pistons are now all about his vision. Only Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope remain from the Dumars era and Drummond is the team’s most important player. Van Gundy is now trying to build around his franchise center much in the same way the Magic did for Dwight Howard. Van Gundy took the Howard-led Magic to the 2009 NBA Finals and for a half-dozen years they were a winning and happy unit … until the relationship soured.
Van Gundy added depth at center with Marjanovic, who remains a curiosity, but moves well for a man his size (7-foot-3). He can contribute in spots, especially at the rim, of course. He also learned a bit in the San Antonio Spurs’ organization and at the knee of Tim Duncan, so the Pistons hope to reap those benefits.
The 6-foot-11 Ellenson spent one season at Marquette and has the size to play the post, yet his offensive instincts are slightly more perimeter-based. That means he’ll likely play power forward, where his competition (at the moment) is Leuer and Marcus Morris.
To an extent, Van Gundy didn’t need to make wholesale moves this summer. More than half of his rotation (Drummond, Morris, Harris, Stanley Johnson and Caldwell-Pope) is players with upside. The Pistons can allow for growth from within before shelling out big dollars to free agents. Those players will either help the Pistons or be used as trade chips.
And that’s the beauty of the Pistons under Van Gundy. They’re not a finished product by any stretch. Yet, Detroit has a collection of assets. There’s future Draft picks, players and decent salary cap space. In short time, Van Gundy has put the Pistons on the right path, both on the floor and on the roster.
The priority this summer was clearly keeping Drummond in the fold, although as a restricted free agent, there was little danger in losing him. He made no noise about being in another city, anyway. He wanted to stay in Detroit, a place that wasn’t on anyone’s radar three years ago, when empty seats and losing streaks plagued the franchise.
The Pistons aren’t a contender, unless this keeps up. They’ve righted the ship in Deeee-troit, where the Pistons are suddenly worth watching.
Coming Next: Indiana Pacers
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Veteran NBA writer Shaun Powell has worked for newspapers and other publications for more than 25 years. You can e-mail him here or follow him on Twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
