Pistons Would Have $12.8M In Extra Space By Waiting On New Drummond Deal

[Blkbrd671]

Yeah, I don't think Drummond is underrated. He is an all-time great rebounder and pick and roll threat. But right now, he is at best an average defender and offensive post presence, while being a huge liability at the free throw line.

He is really great at some things, but is very bad at things we desperately need from him if the team is going to succeed. If he becomes a defensive anchor, I don't think you'll see anyone complain about him.

Yep. He still has a ways to go before he can crowned Detroit's "Dwight Howard" but it's a good thing he's still young and hopefully can grow. This article illustrates perfectly the miscues Dre often has when it comes to defense. And also highlights the fact that Dre is way more offensively minded than defensively minded, which is ok in this evolved league.

Also his post up ISOs were putrid, so he still has plenty to prove.

0.689 points per possession on 38 percent from the field

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25348816/small-ball-and-goliath-stan-van-gundy-unlocking-andre-drummond

There's still hope though. This honestly feels like the last year where we know what we'll actually get out of Dre IMO.

Its preseason, but Dre has looked a lot better defensively, has put a lot more effort into getting down the court and has held his own int he low post. Last year, Al Jeff ritually abused Dre in the post, i recall because we'd always send moose down to guard him and there was a clear difference. Last night, dre did a pretty decent job on him and was still gettin called for junk fouls.

That was a great article find. I agree and don't agree with the writers assessment of Dre's help defense.I agree int he sense that Dre can be a better help side defender by improving his techique(eyes on ball and man, 1 foot in the paint etc.) It really little subtle things on defense that can make all the difference and with dre again its a matter of effort or energy.

i disagree in the example provided by the writer as i do believe Marc Gasol hit a 3 in that game or at least close to the 3 line. I recall SVG insinuating that they didn't emphasize protecting the paint as much last year. If you've noticed, in the Preseason, Dre doesn't even contest the centers shooting 3's, and commits to the rebound or paint.

[joedumars1]

To be fair to Dre. Last year was the first year the coach actually ran plays for him in the post to get a post game.

He is on pace to be one of the greatest rebounders of all time that's pretty special.

i can get lack of experience and touches leading to stunting of development, however when dre did get his touches, its not like he had go to moves or forced the coach into getting him more touches.

Here's a thought, you take away dre's athleticism and quickness, which will happen with age, or injury. What exactly do you have as a player? Dre's ability to dominate and dominate consistently will eventually boil down to technique and fundamentals. Thankfully this is something SVG seems to also realize.

I wanted him to get touches as a rookie. I could see in some games he had a hook. He might not of hit it, but if he actually got the chances he would've improved. We sucked. What exactly did we have to lose? He improved tremendously from the beginning of the year last year to what he is now.

If he stayed the same player he is now and lost his athletic ability he would suck ass. Thankfully he was drafted because of that athletic ability, also he is only 22, I expect his game to keep improving.

[DBC10]

Yeah, I don't think Drummond is underrated. He is an all-time great rebounder and pick and roll threat. But right now, he is at best an average defender and offensive post presence, while being a huge liability at the free throw line.

He is really great at some things, but is very bad at things we desperately need from him if the team is going to succeed. If he becomes a defensive anchor, I don't think you'll see anyone complain about him.

Yep. He still has a ways to go before he can crowned Detroit's "Dwight Howard" but it's a good thing he's still young and hopefully can grow. This article illustrates perfectly the miscues Dre often has when it comes to defense. And also highlights the fact that Dre is way more offensively minded than defensively minded, which is ok in this evolved league.

Also his post up ISOs were putrid, so he still has plenty to prove.

0.689 points per possession on 38 percent from the field

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25348816/small-ball-and-goliath-stan-van-gundy-unlocking-andre-drummond

There's still hope though. This honestly feels like the last year where we know what we'll actually get out of Dre IMO.

Its preseason, but Dre has looked a lot better defensively, has put a lot more effort into getting down the court and has held his own int he low post. Last year, Al Jeff ritually abused Dre in the post, i recall because we'd always send moose down to guard him and there was a clear difference. Last night, dre did a pretty decent job on him and was still gettin called for junk fouls.

That was a great article find. I agree and don't agree with the writers assessment of Dre's help defense.I agree int he sense that Dre can be a better help side defender by improving his techique(eyes on ball and man, 1 foot in the paint etc.) It really little subtle things on defense that can make all the difference and with dre again its a matter of effort or energy.

i disagree in the example provided by the writer as i do believe Marc Gasol hit a 3 in that game or at least close to the 3 line. I recall SVG insinuating that they didn't emphasize protecting the paint as much last year. If you've noticed, in the Preseason, Dre doesn't even contest the centers shooting 3's, and commits to the rebound or paint.

Yeah, the article raves about Drummond overall, and I think also fairly assesses his occasional breakdowns on the defensive end last year. Which many of us already pointed out. It really is a good article.

[DET_Athletics]

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[DET_Athletics]

call me crazy but i dont see us finding our PF in this free agency, i dont think we have ever really tanked before, but i think this year is the year to do it. we need a top3 pick to be undeniable. the players that look like they could fit that bill is Skal Labissiere, Ben Simmons, or Ivan Rabb, in there ranking of fit. with the cap, i think it would be much better to take that money and upgrading two postions or get a max type player on the wing and making a trade with jennings and meeks.


Pg:Jackson / Blake / Dinwiddie
Sg:(max-Type Player)Derozan?/ KCP
Sf:Johnson / Bullock
Pf:Draft pick / Morris / tolliver
C:Drummond / (Upgrade with trade) / anthony

then in the next draft after you make the playoffs, and your picking in the 20's, try and find a good PG project, like a teague, lawson, Schroder type, the list goes on.

[Worm122]

Trade Jennings for Taj Gibson

[DET_Athletics]

the perfect back up big that we should target is Nikola Pekovic, i would trade baynes and meeks with a second round pick should get it done. then turn around and find a upgrade on the wing, with jennings and ilaysova as bait. or let them walk and get the cap space. or if we are really greedy bring back jennings and go over the cap with jennings and drummond.

[DET_Athletics]

Trade Jennings for Taj Gibson

i dont want to trade him to someone in the division so he can have a chip on his shoulder.

[Laimbeer]

the perfect back up big that we should target is Nikola Pekovic, i would trade baynes and meeks with a second round pick should get it done. then turn around and find a upgrade on the wing, with jennings and ilaysova as bait. or let them walk and get the cap space. or if we are really greedy bring back jennings and go over the cap with jennings and drummond.

Pek can't stay on the floor. He might be the worst contract in the league.

[zeebneeb]

Umm, I'm not quite sure what's happening in the posts above me.

[DET_Athletics]

the perfect back up big that we should target is Nikola Pekovic, i would trade baynes and meeks with a second round pick should get it done. then turn around and find a upgrade on the wing, with jennings and ilaysova as bait. or let them walk and get the cap space. or if we are really greedy bring back jennings and go over the cap with jennings and drummond.

Pek can't stay on the floor. He might be the worst contract in the league.

which is why we could get him for cheap, he has skill. plus with less minutes behind drummond he will probably be able to take better care of himself. or we could go for orlando 2.0 and see if the wizard want to blow it up trade gortat after they fall short again.

[DetroitSho]

the perfect back up big that we should target is Nikola Pekovic, i would trade baynes and meeks with a second round pick should get it done. then turn around and find a upgrade on the wing, with jennings and ilaysova as bait. or let them walk and get the cap space. or if we are really greedy bring back jennings and go over the cap with jennings and drummond.

Pek can't stay on the floor. He might be the worst contract in the league.

which is why we could get him for cheap, he has skill. plus with less minutes behind drummond he will probably be able to take better care of himself. or we could go for orlando 2.0 and see if the wizard want to blow it up trade gortat after they fall short again.

Ummm, I'm not sure what's happening in the post above me neither.

[DetroitSho]

Could Harrison Barnes be our stretch four?

I'm not a fan of just plugging SF's at PF and calling them a stretch 4. I would call Barnes SF playing out of position when he plays PF. Ilyasova, Ryan Anderson, Ibaka, Bosh, etc. are real stretch 4's. I'm sure many will disagree though.

I agree with this. There's been a blurring of the line between what a stretch 4 is and what a "SF being on the floor with 3 other perimeter players" is. To be honest, I don't even consider Bosh and Ibaka to be stretch 4's. These guys are pretty prototypical for the traditional PF position with maybe just a little increased range. These guys are not drop dead from 3, their games are more deadly from midrange/midpost.

[Todd3]

Also his post up ISOs were putrid, so he still has plenty to prove.

0.689 points per possession on 38 percent from the field

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25348816/small-ball-and-goliath-stan-van-gundy-unlocking-andre-drummond

I wonder what nba.com uses to differentiate between post ups and post touches, because on their post touches category Drummond had about the same FG% as Jefferson, Gasol, and Cousins last year (54%).

http://stats.nba.com/tracking/#!/player/post/?sort=POST_TOUCH_FG_PCT&dir=1&CF=POST_TOUCHES*GE*6&Season=2014-15&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

Also I'm curious to know what his post up % was post All Star vs before, because I think that 38% is skewed by how awful he was at the beginning of the year when he was just starting his development there . By the end of the year he was much better, so I don't think that 38% is an accurate assessment of his post game. They dont allow you to specify time period in that category though

I bet his % this preseason is much better too, but they don't have those numbers up yet.