[SIZE="5"]Sports Illustrated, February Issue[/SIZE]
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Catching Up with the Detroit Pistons[/SIZE]
February 3rd, 2012 - In June of 2010, we named the Detroit Pistons as one of the three toughest teams to turn around. They had just the worst combination of bad contracts (Hamilton, Gordon, Villanueva, Maxiell), aging talent (Prince), and questionable young "stars" (Stuckey). With all these roadblocks in the way, we thought it would be four or five years before the Pistons could see themselves having a winning season again.
Enter General Manager Myles Nelson. He came in unafraid to make big moves and no one on the roster was safe. He turned this roster upside down. Let's take a look at how he did it.
6/28/10 (Draft Day) - PF Charlie Villanueva, PF Dajuan Summers, 2nd round Pick for C Nazr Mohammed, 1st round pickVillanueva: 7.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg
Summers: DNP
2nd round pick (selected Jeremy Lin): DNP
Mohammed: 7.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg
1st round pick (selected Ed Davis): 6.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg. TRADED
The Pistons clearly won this trade, as Mohammed had a shorter contract, outperformed Villanueva, and got more from their 1st rounder than the Bobcats got for the other two players combined
6/28/10 (Draft Day) - Drafted SF Paul George.George: 7.2 ppg, TRADED
George could have been a good defensive player with serviceable offense, but Nelson was far too impatient for that.
12/1/10 - Traded SG Rip Hamilton, SF Austin Daye, 2011 2nd Round Pick for PF Taj Gibson, SG Gerald Henderson
Hamilton: 13 ppg, 43% fg
Daye: D-League
2nd Round Pick (used on Mickey McConnell): D-League
Gibson: 8.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 48% fg, TRADED
Henderson: Released
Hamilton has been better in the short run for the Bulls, who were looking to win now. For the Pistons, it was a financial move, but Gibson has since been traded anyway. The Bulls may have won this one in the short run, but the Pistons were better off with the money.
1/6/11 - Traded C Ed Davis, SF Paul George, SG Antoine Wright, 2013 1st Round Pick for C Greg Oden, SG Jordan Crawford, 2013 1st Round Pick, 2011 1st Round Pick
Davis: 7.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 48% fg, 1.8 bpg
George: 5.8 ppg, 38.7% fg
Wright: Released
Oden: 15.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.1 bpg, 1.0 spg, 59% fg
Crawford: 13 ppg, 45% from 3, TRADED
The key here are the 1st round picks. Portland clearly believes that the Pistons will have a bad 2013 season, but that doesn't seem likely now. While Davis has improved, Oden is still light years better. Detroit made out like a bandit here.
6/28/11 - Draft Day
#4 - Kemba Walker
#21 - Jordan Hamilton
#32 - Tyler Honeycutt
6/28/11 - Traded SG Jordan Hamilton for PF Tiago Splitter
Hamilton: 4.7 ppg, 44% from 3
Splitter: 16.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 58% fg
While Hamilton could be a very good role player one day, Splitter is an offensive force right now.
7/26/11 - Traded SG Jordan Crawford, SF Tyler Honeycutt, PG Rodney Stuckey, 2014 1st Round for SF Andres Nocioni, SG Evan Turner, PF Derrick Williams
Crawford: 4.5 ppg, 48.5% from 3
Honeycutt: 8.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 49.3% fg
Stuckey: 14.7 ppg, 4.6 apg from the SG slot
Turner: 19.7 ppg, 6.5 apg, 4.7 rpg, 50% fg
Williams: 10.0 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 51% fg
Nocioni: TRADED
Honeycutt has turned out to be a major surprise, playing much better than Nelson ever predicted. Stuckey has been about the same, and Crawford is getting unfair bench splinters. However, Turner and Williams have been so impactful that losing these three key players doesn't even hurt.
Free AgencySigned Timofey Mozgov, Joel Przybilla, Carlos Arroyo, Kyle Korver
Finally, it seemed as though this team might have been too young, without any toughness on the perimeter or veteran leadership. Enter the trade that addressed that issue.
1/29/12 - Traded PF Jason Maxiell, PF Taj Gibson for SG Shane Battier, 2014 1st round pick
It's too soon to say how each player has done since the trade. But with Splitter and Williams already at the PF spots in Detroit, the Pistons had an excess. Battier fit a need, and they got a pick out of it too. It seems like the Pistons won this one.
The current roster is as such:
PG Kemba Walker - 10.7 ppg, 5.3 apg, 2.3 topg
SG Evan Turner - 19.7 ppg, 6.5 apg, 4.7 rpg
SF Shane Battier - 10 ppg
PF Tiago Splitter - 16.6 ppg, 7.0 rpg
C Greg Oden - 15.9 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 2.1 bpg
Carlos Arroyo - 7.1 ppg, 3.1 apg
Ben Gordon - 12.2 ppg
Jonas Jerebko - 4.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg
Kyle Korver - 4.8 ppg
Derrick Williams - 10 ppg, 5.6 rpg
Joel Przybilla - 4.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg
Timofey Mozgov - 1 GP
Which brings us to today. The Pistons are 28-19, on a 5 game winning streak, and with 17M in the bank, they have plenty of money to extend two or three of their young stars. Oden is locked up for the next five years at a very manageable price, Gordon comes off the books in two more years, and Walker, Turner, Splitter, and Williams are going to want big money in a few years. It's a nice headache for Nelson to have, and one he won't have to face before another couple of successful seasons. Hats off to him, the man who changed Detroit basketball within a season and a half.