NBA Scouts on the Pistons

[ElectricMayhem]

Detroit has a lot of different pieces and we’re still waiting to see how do they all fit. . . . Culturally, I think it’ll be a lot better now that Stan Van Gundy’s gone. It’s up to Dwane Casey to repair things. . . . Reggie Jackson’s talented as s--t, but he has unrealistic expectations. I just don’t think a guy like that can ever be part of a successful team. Putting him and Stan together was like putting kerosine on a fire. . . . Andre Drummond has to buy in and take basketball seriously. . . . Stanley Johnson needs to become a professional. . . . How do Blake Griffin and Andre fit together? Will Reggie be OK with Andre and Blake being buddies? Will he be OK being the No. 3 option?. . . . I do think it will be a lot better. There’s a lot less pressure now. The old regime was fighting for their jobs. They’re not rebuilding, but they’re trying to structure an offense around their guys. That will require a constant buy-in from everyone. . . . Blake’s going to want to continue to stretch the floor more. With Drummond dominating the offensive glass, they could be pretty good together. They have a feel for each other after playing together last season. I wouldn’t rule them out of making the playoffs. . . . They took away the elephant in the room of all the pressure on Stan and the front office and now they don’t have to make scary decisions just to try to get into the playoffs. If it doesn’t work out this year, yes, it will be disappointment, but, no one is losing their job. It’s going to be a lot more calm in their blood pressure.... I know they like Glenn Robinson, he’s had some nice preseason moments. His talent in college was always obvious and it was more a question of if they could pull it out of him. He could be a guy who blossoms a little later in his career.

NBA scouts on all other teams:
https://www.si.com/nba/2018/10/10/nba-scouts-analysis-warriors-lakers-celtics-lebron-james

[Snakebites]

Ouch. Pretty harsh indictment of Reggie.

Not sure I disagree. My initial support for that signing was an error on my part. Guys definitely talented but he just seems to be missing something intangible that actual star players have. It’s not just his health.

I think the overall assessment is fair though, both the good and the bad.

[davidvolumes]

Interesting assessment of Stanley. "Need to be more professional". What does that mean?

[DBC10]

Probably the biggest mistake was giving SVG the role of both jobs. It may have been why he was taking not so great out of the park draft picks and overpaying role players to save his """ so to speak. Coaches are hired to always win no matter what, and GMs are supposed to field players for both short and long term success. Having both roles I think caused SVG to take priority of the coaching aspect rather than GM.

Really, a mandate of 4 years or bust.

[Manocad]

Interesting assessment of Stanley. "Need to be more professional". What does that mean?

It was "needs to become a professional." Not the same thing.

That being said, I still have no idea what it means in this context.

[Billl]

SJ needs to learn to be a professional. Find a couple things you can do, and do them well every night. If he does that, he's got the defensive skills to be in the league a long time. If he keeps thinking he's a developing star? I don't think it's going to end well for him.

[ComboGuardCity]

I wonder who these people are

[Kilo]

Johnson talked during the media day about how he took the off-season more seriously and "like a professional". So it was something he was likely told. I think he talked about eating right and getting sleep - he also talked about needing to find the right routine to do daily during the season like most players have/do.

Glenn Robinson contract is weird to me that we didn't get a third year. Give him two years guaranteed and a third year TO so we'd get his FBR's. I guess if we like him this season we can decline the TO and give him a full MLE for two years. Giving him 19M over two instead of $4M through one would be the same as him playing out next year for the $4M and then hoping to get $15M in the first year of his next multiyear.

Reggie Jackson is his own worst enemy - he's not as good as he thinks he is and tries to do to much and has an ego that his skill doesn't support.