what if we have this line-up today?

[mrfalse9]

wonder if we still have these players? with monroe, johnson, middleton, afflalo & knight. would you guys prefer these players compared to as what we have today? wonder if this is a playoff-team line-up but this is a promising starting 5

[The_Irony]

wonder if we still have these players? with monroe, johnson, middleton, afflalo & knight. would you guys prefer these players compared to as what we have today? wonder if this is a playoff-team line-up but this is a promising starting 5

Unrealistic scenarios.

After a team struggles for 5+ years you dont keep the same players.

[GreekAlex]

wonder if we still have these players? with monroe, johnson, middleton, afflalo & knight. would you guys prefer these players compared to as what we have today? wonder if this is a playoff-team line-up but this is a promising starting 5

Why wasn't Andre Drummond invited to fantasy land?

[Laimbeer]

I'm seeing the OP's point. We really haven't been that bad at drafting in general, and trades on the whole haven't been kind.

[Cowology]

non-Pistons are further along in their development, so they be better out of the gate. Afflalo & Khris certainly have an advantage and in a vacuum I prefer Amir over E. Knight is about on equal footing with Moose making up for some of the needed playmaking.

But if I'm building a team I still take RJ & Dre over anything that other lineup can roll out.

btw - the bench would include Stuckey, Singler and Jerebko... But they'd have to be coached by Kuester lol

[mercury]

btw - the bench would include Stuckey, Singler and Jerebko... But they'd have to be coached by Kuester lol

Nice touch

[OneBadMutha]

What I like about this topic is that it gives perspective on building a team. You can have a revolving door of decent talent come through the organization. If you lack a really good coach, character, or identity, talent doesn't mesh together. Dumars drafted well. Had terrible coaches and didn't demand that his players respect leadership. In contrast, his original group were castoffs but fit well together and had an identity. The sum was greater than the parts.

This is why I wanted Monroe gone. He didn't fit with the other good players here or with the type of team/system that SVG wants to run. It's important to fit...not just be talented.

That's also why I liked the draft pick of SJ over Winslow. Character and fit. All those fans and media screaming for "best player available" meaning they wanted the consensus "most talented player available" haven't been paying attention to the last decade of Pistons team building.

[313 Professor]

We have had great pieces on this team in recent years we just haven't figured out the puzzle.

Knight, Jennings, RJ, Augustin
Stuckey, RJ, Afflalo, Middleton, KCP
Singler, Middleton, KCP
Johnson, Monroe, Jerebko
Drummond, Monroe

I'm probably missing a few guys but all of these guys are winning players in the right roles I think. We've just tended to have them in roles above their heads while here or traded them.

A big thing we've slept on for a while now in DET is ball-handling. We've not had enough handling on the floor until maybe this year when we'll have Jennings, RJ, Dinwiddie, and SJ hopefully who can run a P&R and dribble effectively.

[Spider156]

We have had great pieces on this team in recent years we just haven't figured out the puzzle.

Knight, Jennings, RJ, Augustin
Stuckey, RJ, Afflalo, Middleton, KCP
Singler, Middleton, KCP
Johnson, Monroe, Jerebko
Drummond, Monroe

I'm probably missing a few guys but all of these guys are winning players in the right roles I think. We've just tended to have them in roles above their heads while here or traded them.

A big thing we've slept on for a while now in DET is ball-handling. We've not had enough handling on the floor until maybe this year when we'll have Jennings, RJ, Dinwiddie, and SJ hopefully who can run a P&R and dribble effectively.

You missed Smith lol Funny right? He would and DID destroy that team haha

[Pharaoh]

What I like about this topic is that it gives perspective on building a team. You can have a revolving door of decent talent come through the organization. If you lack a really good coach, character, or identity, talent doesn't mesh together. Dumars drafted well. Had terrible coaches and didn't demand that his players respect leadership. In contrast, his original group were castoffs but fit well together and had an identity. The sum was greater than the parts.

Amen!

If you go back to the Going to Work Pistons the identity was created by Ben Wallace, Joe Dumars and Rick Carlisle.

Guys like Corliss, Cliff Robinson and Jon Barry were keys for us in building a culture.

Joe made smart trades and signings that fit.

Once Mr D passed away Joe lost his way - kept trying to put square pegs in round holes and his coaching selections were abysmal!

Now we've got an identity again and it just so happens that the guy at the top of the food chain is responsible for that identity! He's gonna get pieces that fit.

It's not all about talent. At some point chemistry, work ethic, determination, guts, trust, mental toughness, heart come in to play...all the things that don't show up on a spreadsheet!

Anyone who has been in charge of 10-25 people understands all that. And it can be extremely difficult to forge a willing partnership across that many individuals despite the fact they have a common goal!

Personally I like what SVG has done for the last 12 months. What happens from here will be interesting to follow and it's been a long time since I was this interested!

[chrbal]

I wish we never traded Afflalo and Middleton. everything else, meh. Afflalo created cap space to sign CHRIS ****ING WILCOX. Middleton could've not been part of that trade. His salary was almost nothing being a 2nd year 2nd round pick and he really hadn't shown anything yet.

Also, jennings was really starting to seem like he would've had to have taken a qualifying offer.