STAYING: Aron Baynes, Lorenzo Brown, Reggie Bullock, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Andre Drummond, Tobias Harris, Darrun Hilliard, Reggie Jackson, Stanley Johnson and Marcus Morris.
ADDED: Henry Ellenson (Marquette), Michael Gbinije (Syracuse), Jon Leuer (Phoenix), Boban Marjanovic (San Antonio), Ray McCallum and Ishmael Smith (Philadelphia).
GONE: Joel Anthony, Steve Blake, Spencer Dinwiddie (Chicago) and Jodie Meeks (Orlando).
STRENGTHS: Last season, Andre Drummond finally became the dominant center we expected him to be … If he builds on his 2015-16 performance, that’s very good news for Detroit … Strong inside-outside combo with Drummond and the up-and-coming Reggie Jackson, who played well in his first season as a full-time starter with the Pistons … We probably have not seen the best of those two yet and the same thing can be said about other members of the team young nucleus like Tobias Harris, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Stanley Johnson … Very physical frontcourt with the likes of Drummond, Harris and Aron Baynes … Overall, they have a good combination of toughness and athleticism … Terrific squad on the boards … The finished only behind Oklahoma City in rebounds last year … With a coach like Stan Van Gundy around, you know they will play hard or else … They had a taste of the playoffs last spring and it must have left them wanting more.
WEAKNESSES: In terms of star power, they pale in comparison to other Eastern Conference clubs … Talent level is good but not great … Outside of Drummond, how many Detroit players are Top 10 at their respective positions? … Offense was not a thing of beauty in Detroit with just 43.9 percent shooting from the field, which put them in the Bottom 5 in the league … Although the acquisition of Jon Leuer could help some in that regard, it’s not a good outside shooting team … Subpar ball movement … Not a great squad at scoring on the break either … They were the worst team from the foul line last season, largely because of Drummond’s inability to make his free throws … He hit a career-low 35.5 percent last year … Must vastly improve there if he wants to become a full-blown NBA superstar.
PREDICTION: 4th in the Central Division, 9th in the Eastern Conference.
SALARIES:
from HoopsHype http://ift.tt/2aEzcR6
No comments:
Post a Comment