The Detroit Pistons are on the Verge of Rising in the East

Are the Detroit Pistons ready to make a move up the Eastern Conference standings?

This post was a thought before the Reggie Jackson injury and will remain a thought as we take the final steps into the season. The injury to Reggie Jackson – out six to eight weeks with a knee injury – will hurt the Pistons to start the season. Jackson serves as the team’s best point guard option and best slasher on the roster.

And yet, I’m still a tad bit more optimistic than most on the Pistons, both for the long-term and for the 2016-17 NBA season.

Detroit took another good step last season under head coach Stan Van Gundy, going from 32 wins in 2015 to 44 wins in 2016. The roster, devoid of talent over the previous five years before the Van Gundy tenure, churned out several solid rotation players thanks to solid draft picks and successful trades. Even though they lost in the first round to the eventual champion Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit’s “core” was present.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U20rBaniLe4

Van Gundy is the taskmaster of it all, but the Pistons run behind their big center, Andre Drummond. The fourth-year big man continued his ascension, averaging 16.2 points and 14.8 rebounds. He still has work to do as a rim protector, but the 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks suggest that he’s an active defensive presence and one of the best rebounders in the league, snagging an unprecedented 24.5 percent of total rebounds last year.

Drummond became one of four players (Moses Malone, Dennis Rodman, and DeAndre Jordan) to finish with a total rebound rate of 23 percent, an offensive rebound rate of 14 percent, and over 13 rebounds per game.

The debate between the second-best player on the team is interesting. Reggie Jackson might be the second most important player, but talent-wise, I’m fond of Tobias Harris.

Harris gives this team a new dimension offensively. Before his arrival from Detroit, the Pistons lacked just one archetype: The guy who can get you a bucket. Harris fills that role, averaging 16.6 points and jumping to 37 percent shooting from beyond the arc in his first 27 games as a Piston.

Shifting him from small forward to power forward allows him to use his athleticism against smaller big men and provides some of the spacing others can’t. The results, in a small sample size, were good. The Pistons were six points better defensively with Harris on the floor, and one of my favorite lineups for the Pistons – Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Stanley Johnson, Harris, and Drummond – had a 17.6 net rating, albeit in 27 minutes.

Speaking of Caldwell-Pope and Johnson, those are two players whose development will be key for Detroit’s rise and long-term stay in the Eastern Conference race.

With small-ball being the norm, the need for long-limbed two-way wings has never been higher. The Pistons may have two of those guys. Between the two, Caldwell-Pope is more experienced, entering his fourth season in the league. After two so-so seasons, Caldwell-Pope took a step forward as a two-way player and mainstay in Detroit’s core.

Though his three-ball dipped from 34 percent to 30 percent, Caldwell-Pope still provided value offensively. Last season, KCP took a step forward as a ball-handler. Per NBA.com’s play type stats page, Caldwell-Pope had 260 possessions as the pick and roll ball-handler. He shot just 40 percent, but netted a 0.82 PPP and got to the free throw line 9.5 percent of the time.

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This play above is just an example. Not the cleanest play, but Caldwell-Pope uses the Drummond pick to get space to knock down a mid-range jumper.  The ability to create, even a little bit, with some solid shooting, would allow Caldwell-Pope to become a better offensive player. Entering his age-23 season, KCP putting all his skills together would place him on the verge of a breakout season.

As for Johnson, he already made headlines for his moxie in the playoffs last season. Going after LeBron James and challenging him on the defensive end, Johnson couldn’t stop The King, but few rookies would have the gall to even challenge him.

Despite that, Johnson didn’t have the greatest season. Marcus Morris, another excellent addition by the Pistons, claimed the starting small forward position for much of the year, leaving Stanley to come off the bench. In that time, Johnson flashed a bit of everything. He shot 30 percent on threes but took 200 of them. He finished with more assists than turnovers and flashed the ability to defend multiple positions.

It’s key for Johnson to take a step forward in his second season. Not just for his sake, but for the sake of Caldwell-Pope and Morris, two of the top six players in minutes played. Adding a third wing with Johnson’s capabilities into the mix allows Van Gundy to rely on his starters less. A step forward as a floor spacer could result in Johnson being a valuable sixth man who can do just that.

Despite my optimism for the Pistons this upcoming season, I’m still a bit concerned as to how high they can actually climb. The question sits there because as good as Drummond is, I don’t know how far you can go with him as your best player and one of Harris and Jackson as your second and third best player. And yet, outside of Cleveland and Boston, I think the Pistons could contend with any team in the East.

And just how good could a team with Andre Drummond as their definitive best player be? The goal for Van Gundy is to emulate his Orlando teams led by Dwight Howard. Around the rim-rolling, shot-blocking big man, Orlando had a steady point guard and the other positions were patrolled by several floor spacers. In time, Van Gundy hopes to have the same with Drummond as the center, Caldwell-Pope, Morris, Johnson and Harris as shooters/offensive threats and Jackson as the point guard. Albeit, the players are different, there’s a better defensive core here.

Could Drummond ascend to Howard’s level? We’ll see in time.

This year will be a test to see where the Pistons are going and if the trajectory is leading them towards a few appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals, or if they’re a fun, young second round out. With Van Gundy at the helm, I’m optimistic, but it’s the combination of Drummond, Jackson, Harris, Caldwell-Pope, and Johnson that makes me think the Pistons are on the verge of becoming mainstays in the playoffs for the foreseeable future.