Re: [情報] Pistons acquiring Brandon Jennings
Dunking > Tanking: All Hail the Pistons
http://ppt.cc/a~or
We thought the NBA offseason was over, we thought it was time to move on to
football, we thought Brandon Jennings was going spend the rest of his prime
in NBA limbo like Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf.
BUT THEN:
And now we just need to take a few minutes to talk Pistons, because this
team deserves to be celebrated. We might as well start with Jennings.
Brandon Jennings is not perfect. His problem is twofold. He's a streaky
shooter and someone you can't totally depend on to show up and play well
every night. If that were the only problem, that'd be fine. The second
problem compounds it, though. Not only is Jennings streaky, but even when
he's playing well he tends to monopolize the ball, and his success comes at
the expense of everyone else, keeping them from getting into a rhythm, etc.
That's why Jennings was unsigned until July 30, and why he's considered a
level below some of the other point guards from his draft class (Ty Lawson,
Steph Curry, Jrue Holiday). All of it makes sense.
On the other hand ... Jennings isn't as hopeless as everyone says. He's got
enough talent to hang with the best point guards in the league and not get
blown off the court. If you're paying him $12 million a year to be one of
your two or three best players, then yeah, he's overrated and flawed and
he'll drive you insane. But $8 million a year to fill a gaping hole at
point guard? Then he's more of a luxury. And Jennings will be surrounded
by more talent than he's ever seen in Milwaukee, with the added bonus of
Chauncey Billups there to help him grow.
So much of the NBA comes down to luck. If you're not Kevin Durant or LeBron
James, finding the right situation to thrive in is half the battle. For
example, Ty Lawson is great, but he also landed in Denver, where he could
(a) learn behind Andre Miller Chauncey Billups for his first year, and (b)
push the ball constantly and play to his strengths. I'm not saying Lawson's
overrated, but if you put him in Milwaukee for the past four seasons, he
might have looked just as flawed as Brandon Jennings. Now, after a summer
when Jennings kinda turned into a league-wide punch line, he lands in
Detroit with a chip on his shoulder and a fresh start. This could work
better than you think. It was a smart deal.
Of course, it's also INSANE.
Three freak-athlete big men (Andre Drummond, Josh Smith, Greg Monroe) who
can't shoot, a point guard who shoots too much (and still can't shoot), a
bench full of wild cards, Will Bynum and Rodney Stuckey ... How is this
really a team?
Everything about this Pistons squad and the way Joe Dumars built it has
been a giant middle finger to everyone. Nobody would take a chance on Andre
Drummond in the 2012 draft? The Pistons grabbed him. Nobody wanted to commit
big money to Josh Smith? The Pistons swooped in and stole him for $54
million. Chauncey Billups is washed up? Chauncey Billups is coming back to
Detroit. Tony Mitchell? Freak athlete/tweener who plummeted in the draft.
BOOM. Pistons. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope? Well ... nobody has any clue what
he'll end up doing. But, hey, Pistons.
Throw in Jennings, and COACH SHEED, and the Pistons are basically just
stockpiling guys who have driven the whole world crazy. Now they'll drive
the world crazy together. It's League Pass Christmas!
There are three big reasons to love what's happening here.
1. We live in tanktacular times. Practically every bad team in the NBA
decided to tread water this summer or actively get worse. The Pelicans,
Cavs, Wizards, and Blazers are exceptions, and maybe the Bobcats if you
want to pretend the Bobcats are going to be better with Al Jefferson. But
the Sixers, Jazz, Magic, Kings, Suns, Celtics, Mavs, Raptors, Bucks ...
There are a lot of bad teams who are either kicking the can down the road
till next summer or building a tanking Dream Team for this year, gunning
for the deepest draft class in history.
That's all fine, it's just that over the past few years it feels like that
model has become the de facto blueprint for mediocre teams looking to
contend. Like, if your favorite team is in no-man's-land, you spend the
year rooting for them to gut their roster over the summer and then
hopefully get lucky in the lottery the following year. And even then, it
has to happen in the right year. That's how NBA fans dream in 2013.
(Tanktacular times ...)
It's all pretty depressing. The Pistons are your reminder that it doesn't
have to be that way, and really, it has never actually been that way. Think
of the franchises over the past handful of years that have landed top-three
picks and built championship contenders. The Thunder, the Clippers, and ...
the Cavs? The Wizards? Raptors? Kings? The "tear it down" model fails more
often than it succeeds, and it takes years to work.
The Pistons began this summer in a dead zone, with all kinds of motivation
to tread water and/or get rid of Greg Monroe, then land in the top eight
picks next year (Charlotte has their 2014 pick, but it's top-eight
protected).
Instead, they decided to gamble on guys like Smith and Jennings and put
together an insanely athletic — and just insane — roster full of
undervalued guys, and then see what comes next. As Tom Ziller pointed out
a few weeks ago, this is how the Grizzlies happened. But even if the
Pistons don't turn into Grit ’N' Grind: Motor City Remix, it's still pretty
cool to see them break from the tanking ranks to go for it. Also:
2. All of these deals were smart. If things don't work, Jennings and Smith
have decent contracts that could be moved anytime in the next few years,
and Greg Monroe will be one of the three or four best trade chips in the
NBA next year. If it were Daryl Morey making these moves, people would be
praising him for "stockpiling assets," but it's Joe Dumars, so the refrain
is more "LOL Pistons." Whatever. With the players they have, the Pistons
management could make a play for Rajon Rondo, Kevin Love, or just clear
space and go nuts in free agency again in 2014 or '15.
As it stands, I feel like the Pistons probably have to find a way to sign
Stephen Jackson. I know there's no more cap space, but still. Make it
happen. Just for the hell of it.
And finally ...
3. IT COULD WORK. I mean, sure, there are going to be some nights when the
Pistons look like a complete disaster. Maybe that will be the whole year,
until they deal Monroe and/or Jennings. It also hinges almost entirely on
Drummond, who's still a complete wild card. He looked great in small doses
last year so a lot of people expect much bigger things next year, but who
knows?
Either way, we should celebrate the Pistons because regardless of whether
it works or not, it'll be spectacular. I don't know if I believe in the
Pistons' blueprint, but I'm glad it exists. It's better than having another
team like the Sixers and Suns, both of whom will be unwatchable all year.
Plus: Is some guy like Marcus Smart really worth throwing away another
season and giving up on someone like Greg Monroe?
Instead, as we said a few weeks ago, Detroit's front line might dunk you to
death. And maybe we'll watch Andre Drummond turn into a monster for real,
Greg Monroe will play on the first good team of his career, and Brandon
Jennings and Josh Smith will prove everyone wrong. There will be lots of
spacing issues in the half-court, the lineup is still ridiculous to think
about, Maurice Cheeks and COACH SHEED will have lots of work to do to make
it all fit, etc. But whatever happens will be entertaining.
And while everyone gawks at Detroit insanity, remember that the team that
can't shoot is also the team that should be able to outrebound everybody,
and the Pistons will be a nightmare on defense and in the open court. I
swear, it's so crazy it just might work. (Right?)
(Come on. Why not?)
(GO PISTONS.)
--
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