By: Bogart Lipe
Andre Drummond, who is playing like if a lovechild between Shaquille O’Neal and Steve Nash existed, can shoot free throws now. To celebrate, we’ll have an article every week whose length is based on Andre’s free throw percentage. For example, 0.500 from the line calls for a 500 word article, 0.700 is a 700 word article, and so on. So here we go. Andre Drummond is shooting 0.629 from the free throw line, so here are 629 words on the Pistons’ week.
We’re not going to talk about the way the Pistons have played basketball. Let’s not talk about how they’ve gone 8-17 over their last 25 games. Let’s not talk about it culminating in a perfect, romantic Spencer Dinwiddie Athletic But Also Ugly As Hell buzzer beater to help the Nets beat the Pistons by one on Sunday. Let’s not do that. Let’s talk about the mini drama with Andre Drummond being left off the All-Star Team and who SVG needs to trade for.
Andre Drummond is averaging 14/15/4/1.5/1.2. Sure. He’s likely the best rebounder in the game based on recent statistics. Sure. Andre Drummond should probably be upset that he won’t be an All-Star for the second year in a row (and he made it clear he is). Sure.
We’re not going to talk about the way the Pistons have played basketball. Let’s not talk about how they’ve gone 8-17 over their last 25 games. Let’s not talk about it culminating in a perfect, romantic Spencer Dinwiddie Athletic But Also Ugly As Hell buzzer beater to help the Nets beat the Pistons by one on Sunday. Let’s not do that. Let’s talk about the mini drama with Andre Drummond being left off the All-Star Team and who SVG needs to trade for.
Andre Drummond is averaging 14/15/4/1.5/1.2. Sure. He’s likely the best rebounder in the game based on recent statistics. Sure. Andre Drummond should probably be upset that he won’t be an All-Star for the second year in a row (and he made it clear he is). Sure.
Via @AndreDrummond on Twitter
Is Dre more deserving than Al Horford, who is averaging 13, 7, and 5 this year (gulp)? Probably. But the way the Pistons have so quickly and explosively receded, it shouldn’t come as a shock to Pistons fans that Dre was left off the team. The days of the possibility of Tobias Harris being an All-Star left weeks ago. Dre was the only player with a real chance, but when you have an arguably better known big man on the best team in the conference in Horford, bias (albeit likely unfair bias) is going to come into play. It definitely sucks. It’s fantastic seeing your hometown team represented in the mid-winter shootout. Under other circumstances, Dre not making the cut would get under my skin. But there’s more pressing issues if the Pistons are going to do anything this year other than pseudo-tank.
Stan Van Gundy needs to call Michael Jordan. And when he calls Michael Jordan, he needs to bring up Kemba Walker. And when he brings up Kemba Walker, he needs to trade anyone not named Tobias or Andre (or Anthony) to get him. MJ recently came out and proclaimed his adoration for Kemba, and that he would not trade Walker except for an All-Star player. And, as previously discussed, the Pistons once again have no such players. However, the Hornets suck. The Pistons suck. The two teams could benefit greatly from doing business with each other, exchanging valuable players who may simply need a change of scenery. It would require likely quite a bit from the Pistons end, with Reggie Jackson, Stanley Johnson, another rotation player, and maybe a first round pick being necessary. It doesn’t matter what SVG has to do, as long as he does so while retaining Tobias and Dre. Kemba and Dre have a Connecticut connection, and Kemba may be one of the few point guards in the league that Dre could stomach replacing Reggie Jackson, one of his best friends, long term. Avery Bradley would likely not be involved in a trade, as there is no shot he signs long term in Charlotte, so a hypothetical Pistons lineup would be as follows: Kemba, Avery Bradley, Reggie Bullock, Tobias, and Dre. (Is that not a top East lineup? Am I still crazy? Don’t answer that.) The bench will have to be diminished sure, but SVG has proven his ability to replenish the bench at a cheap cost before and may be able to do so again. Kemba in a Pistons uniform may currently be a pipe dream, but for SVG and these Pistons, an ultimatum is nearing. Either make a big move to try to salvage this core’s potential, or become sellers at the trade deadline and start over (again). Can SVG survive a rebuild this early in his tenure as the head of the Pistons? If not, then he only has a few options: once again run it back (if able to resign Avery) or make big news before the trade deadline.
Stan Van Gundy needs to call Michael Jordan. And when he calls Michael Jordan, he needs to bring up Kemba Walker. And when he brings up Kemba Walker, he needs to trade anyone not named Tobias or Andre (or Anthony) to get him. MJ recently came out and proclaimed his adoration for Kemba, and that he would not trade Walker except for an All-Star player. And, as previously discussed, the Pistons once again have no such players. However, the Hornets suck. The Pistons suck. The two teams could benefit greatly from doing business with each other, exchanging valuable players who may simply need a change of scenery. It would require likely quite a bit from the Pistons end, with Reggie Jackson, Stanley Johnson, another rotation player, and maybe a first round pick being necessary. It doesn’t matter what SVG has to do, as long as he does so while retaining Tobias and Dre. Kemba and Dre have a Connecticut connection, and Kemba may be one of the few point guards in the league that Dre could stomach replacing Reggie Jackson, one of his best friends, long term. Avery Bradley would likely not be involved in a trade, as there is no shot he signs long term in Charlotte, so a hypothetical Pistons lineup would be as follows: Kemba, Avery Bradley, Reggie Bullock, Tobias, and Dre. (Is that not a top East lineup? Am I still crazy? Don’t answer that.) The bench will have to be diminished sure, but SVG has proven his ability to replenish the bench at a cheap cost before and may be able to do so again. Kemba in a Pistons uniform may currently be a pipe dream, but for SVG and these Pistons, an ultimatum is nearing. Either make a big move to try to salvage this core’s potential, or become sellers at the trade deadline and start over (again). Can SVG survive a rebuild this early in his tenure as the head of the Pistons? If not, then he only has a few options: once again run it back (if able to resign Avery) or make big news before the trade deadline.