Geico has a commercial running now featuring a live-action Tarzan and Jane. In the spot, the couple swings from a vine onto a tree branch, where Jane promptly declares they don’t know where they are going. The popular shtick unfolds – Tarzan, as the man, declares that he knows where he’s going. Jane, the woman, attempts to ask for directions – of a chimpanzee, though, so her success is limited. The ending of the commercial is delivered by the narrator: “Couples fight over directions. It’s what they do.”
Well, for some NBA franchises, losing is what they do. The Sacramento Kings seem to be perpetually standing on a tree branch, left asking chimpanzees for help. The Philadelphia 76ers are testing vines, not wanting to start swinging unless they find the right one. The Lakers are sitting in a hut, waiting for the palanquin that is supposed to come carry them to their destination.
For other NBA teams, winning is what they do. They’ve been to their destination, NBA titles, and they have put together the infrastructure needed to keep up that pursuit. The Spurs have the route memorized, walking its length year after year. The Warriors are leaping from vine to vine, knowing how to get there but enjoying the journey. The Heat, despite branches and trees snapping on them, are still reaching the end more often than not.For a handful of teams in the NBA, the transition from hapless travelers to confident trekkers is happening before our eyes. In the Midwest, the Detroit Pistons realized that they were lost. Rather than elicit primate advice, they decided the best way to blaze their trail was to find someone who knew the way. Stan Van Gundy brought with him a history of success and, perhaps most importantly, a map.
Van Gundy has a map, and he’s marked out the route. Every move the Pistons make is with their final destination in mind. Trading for Reggie Jackson, Marcus Morris, and Tobias Harris; signing Aron Baynes and Anthony Tolliver; and drafting Stanley Johnson – all of these moves have been pieces of the long-term plan. Van Gundy isn’t taking a left at the waterfall because he feels like it; it’s because taking a left gets him around the fire swamp and a step closer to a Pistons title.Meanwhile, Vlade’s trying to learn Chimp.
How Things Stand
Detroit is currently 33-31, a half game up on Chicago for the final playoff berth in the East. Above them, Indiana is a mere half game above the Pistons, and past them Detroit is 2.5 games from the fifth seed. While Detroit’s goals are to be realized past this season, Van Gundy knows the value of playoff experience, and he’s putting his team in position to get a taste this year.
Taking a step deeper, the Pistons look to be an even better team than their record or standing would indicate. Detroit boasts the 11th-best point differential in the league, ahead of teams such as Memphis, Miami, Portland, and Chicago. They have won six of their last eight games, with wins over Cleveland, Toronto, Dallas, and Portland in that span. Andre Drummond has provided consistency with his All-Star play, leading the league in rebounding at 15.1 boards per game. Reggie Jackson has lived up to his contract at the point, and Kentavius Caldwell-Pope has earned a reputation as a dogged defender while fighting to improve his offensive game.
At the trade deadline, Van Gundy flipped the expiring contracts of Ersan Ilyasova and Brandon Jennings for young forward Tobias Harris. While Harris’ immediate returns have been mixed – he’s improved his scoring and passing since joining the Pistons, but has seen his rebounding take a hit – Harris is a short-term improvement over Iylasova. Long term, the Pistons have a 23-year-old swing forward locked up at a very good price in the booming market to come. This lines up with their acquisitions of Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris via trade, rather than fighting a bidding war for free agents in the summer.
That doesn’t mean Detroit won’t be a player in this summer’s free agency. They will have space to make a run at another piece before re-signing Drummond; since the center has a relatively low cap hold, the Pistons could perform moves similar to San Antonio last year – sign players and then re-sign current players over the cap line.
Detroit also owns all of its first-round picks, so they can fill in the edges with rotation players on cheap contracts. Van Gundy came in with a plan, and he’s stuck to it. All I can do is help them on their way.
Steps to Take
1. Face the coming weeks with confidence – This isn’t my normal advice, but the Pistons should continue to accrue the swagger they’ve earned this season. They’ve had their ups and downs, but the ups have shown they can hang with anyone. They have wins over every team in the East playoffs (two against Cleveland), as well as a dominant win against Golden State. They can and should make the playoffs, and they shouldn’t fear a sweep once they get there. That team confidence in a postseason carries over.
2. Draft a point guard – I am a proponent of best player available, and so if Detroit sees a value drop to their draft position, they should take them. But they really need a young player at the point behind Jackson, and this draft offers a number of options in the middle of the first round. Players such as Denzel Valentine, Wade Baldwin IV, and Demetrius Jackson should get a long look by the Pistons.
3. Approach free agency with the destination in mind – Detroit, while on the rise, is not winning the title next season. But they are well on their way to putting together a core of young players who can grow together and challenge in the East down the road. Their core of Caldwell-Pope, Drummond, Jackson, Johnson, and Harris are all twenty-five or younger. Using their cap space to build a young bench behind them could set this team up for consistent growth and success for the next half-decade.
4. Be open to all ideas about improving Drummond’s free throw shooting – Van Gundy has dealt with this issue before, watching Dwight Howard brick free throw after free throw. Clearly “practice 10,000 shots a day” isn’t working for these tall, athletic centers who dominate the glass and fade at the stripe. But in an age where teams are tracking player’s heartbeats, sending injured players to Qatar, and training by dribbling tennis balls and slapping sequenced, colored lights, there has to be a place offering a unique approach to improving free-throw shooting for bigs. Van Gundy needs to find out who this person is and give them a phone call.
5. Keep ticket prices as low as possible – Everyone knows about Detroit’s economic struggles. The Pistons have an opportunity to fill their arena with passionate fans if they keep admission at a low-enough price point. Of course they are a business and need to make money, but the Pistons can uplift a community and transcend the finances if they approach this right.
6. Tape a rap album in the offseason – Because we need to find out what rhymes lay behind this picture. We just need to.
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