Beard: Major changes won't come quickly for Pistons Rod Beard

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1 Beard: Major changes won't come quickly for Pistons Rod Beard The Detroit NewsPublished 7:31 p.m. ET Dec. 16, 2018 Updated 7:31 p.m. ET Dec. 16, 2018 Auburn Hills Trade Reggie Jackson. Trade Andre Drummond. Trade Stanley Johnson. Trade everybody. For anybody. It s a familiar refrain from social media and sports-talk radio about the current state of the Pistons roster. After a promising 13-7 start they re now after emerging from a six-game losing streak with a win over the Boston Celtics on Saturday night. What to make of this Pistons team? The goal for the Pistons seems to be to become a perennial playoff team, as they re not close to being a contender, even in the Eastern Conference, at this point. They re currently the No. 6 seed in the East, which is an improvement over But similar to last season s early success, there are no guarantees for a strong finish. If change is going to come, it won t come quickly. Both Blake Griffin and Drummond are playing at an All-Star level this season, but finding the other pieces to put around them to improve the roster is going to be tough. Ideally, the Pistons would like an upgrade at point guard or on the wing the two most important positions in today s NBA but they don t have the trade pieces to acquire such a player. Jackson has little value in the trade market; with his salary of $17 million, the Pistons wouldn t get an acceptable return. Most likely, they would have to attach an incentive, such as a first-round pick, to entice a team with salary-cap space to absorb Jackson s contract, which calls for $18 million next season, in addition to the $17 million in As in previous years under then-president Stan Van Gundy, Jackson s name popped up in trade rumors recently. Though he s finally healthy this season, Jackson has struggled to find a niche in coach Dwane Casey s system and his role in the offense has dwindled significantly. Drummond is having the best season of his career, but with two more years and about $81 million left on his contract, he s not easily movable in a trade, either. The Pistons haven t been anxious to trade Drummond, and most other teams already have the center they desire or a young big man with a manageable contract that they re grooming. As the Pistons accumulated assets to trade for Griffin a haul that included Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris and Tobias Harris, three starters from the previous season and their 2018 first-round pick, they sapped most of their depth. The Pistons got the star they wanted, but it came at a high cost. After the Griffin deal, owner Tom Gores said the Pistons needed more star players like Griffin. That s proving to be more than difficult, especially with limited remaining resources and trade chips.

2 That was part of the reason for choosing Casey, who is renowned for his player development. Because of their dire salary-cap situation nearing the luxury-tax line the Pistons can t go out and acquire other players, so the answer has to be in internal improvement. Even that young talent, such as first-round picks Stanley Johnson, Henry Ellenson and Luke Kennard, has been slow to develop. Van Gundy limited some of their opportunities as rookies and they haven t produced at the projected levels. Johnson, 22, was a starter early in the season but has found a better role with the second unit as a defensive stalwart and open-floor threat. Johnson is set to become a restricted free agent in the summer likely commanding an eight-figure annual salary. There isn t equal trade value on the trade market, but like Drummond, Johnson likely is better suited to the Pistons than to other teams. This week s news of the Pistons doing their due diligence in pursuing a trade for Sixers guard Markelle Fultz was music to the ears of many Pistons fans, but also showed the state of the franchise. Taking a chance on Fultz would be a huge gamble. He s out for at least another few weeks and his diagnosed condition thoracic outlet syndrome isn t as simple to treat as an issue with a knee or ankle. Some around the league have concluded that Fultz s issues are more mental than physical, but the No. 1 pick from the 2017 draft remains a high-potential player. The Sixers might accept the Pistons expiring contracts of Ish Smith and Reggie Bullock for Fultz, as it fills two of the bigger needs on their bench. Missing out on their top pick would sting the Philadelphia front office, but it would give them a better chance of re-signing Jimmy Butler in the offseason. That s the type of risk the Pistons might have to take if they re going improve their roster. They were rumored to be involved in talks with the Suns for Trevor Ariza, but as in many of the trade targets that have several suitors, the Pistons don t have as many assets to pull off the big deal. The teams that are taking huge risks, such as the Sixers, Bucks and Raptors, are reaping the benefits. The Pistons won t be able to get there until they clean up their financial situation and unload some of their large salaries, including Josh Smith s annual gift of $5.3 million, which is still on the books. The Pistons aren t in a position to tank their season for high draft picks, because Griffin s contract looms over them and his talent will make them too good to lose regularly. But given that timeline his deal has about $142 million remaining they have until 2022 to figure out what they ll be. The situation with their contracts will improve after next season but they ll have to be patient until then, not mortgaging the future for the murky present, to speed up the process to become a perennial playoff team. It s not a pretty present, but it s where they are.

3 Pistons vs. Bucks Tip-off: 7 p.m. Monday, Little Caesars Arena, Detroit TV/radio: FSD/97.1 Outlook: The Bucks (19-9) have the second-best record in the East, behind Giannis Antetokounmpo. They won the season s only meeting by 23 points last week in Milwaukee. The Pistons (14-13) ended their sixgame losing streak with Saturday s win over the Celtics. Detroit Pistons vs. Bucks: How can they contain Giannis Antetokounmpo? Vince Ellis Detroit Free PressPublished 5:58 a.m. ET Dec. 17, 2018 Detroit Pistons (14-13) vs. Milwaukee Bucks (19-9) When: 7 p.m. tonight. Where: Little Caesars Arena. TV: Fox Sports Detroit. Radio: 97.1 FM (Pistons radio affiliates). Game notes Projected starting lineups: Pistons: G Reggie Jackson, G Luke Kennard, F Reggie Bullock, F Blake Griffin, C Andre Drummond. Bucks: G Eric Bledsoe, G Malcolm Brogdon, F Khris Middleton, F Giannis Antetokounmpo, C Brook Lopez. Hurting Bucks: Brogdon and Middleton (a former Pistons) missed Milwaukee s last game a victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Tower of power: Drummond is averaging 4.3 blocks over the last three games. He s sixth in the NBA with an average of two per game. Stats: The Pistons ended their six-game losing streak with a nice win over Boston on Saturday.... The Bucks blew out the Pistons on Dec. 5 in Milwaukee, , despite 31 points from Griffin.

4 Pistons' spacing much better with Reggie Bullock, Luke Kennard in lineup By Ansar Khan Posted December 17, 2018 at 06:05 AM MLive.com Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey might have discovered the right combination to maximize the abilities of Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond and his team's offensive potential. Reggie Bullock returned Saturday from a sprained ankle and joined Luke Kennard in the starting lineup for the first time this season. The team's top two shooters combined for 25 points on 9-of-15 from the floor (6-of-12 3-pointers) in a victory over Boston at Little Caesars Arena. They spaced the floor, creating driving lanes and keeping the Celtics from collapsing too much on the big men. "It just opened the floor so much," Griffin said. "You have to respect those guys when anywhere. They're both capable of putting it on the floor, getting into a hole and making plays. It gives us two more weapons that people have to be aware of." Injuries to Bullock )seven games missed) and Kennard (16 games missed) had limited their time on the court together to only a handful of minutes early in the season. This was Casey's eighth different starting lineup in 27 games and one he might stick with, health permitting. The Pistons had been starting Glenn Robinson III, who's out a couple of weeks with an ankle sprain, but he is not as dangerous an offensive threat. "It spreads the floor and (Bullock and Kennard) are both capable of moving the ball and shooting the shot when they're open," Drummond said. "It was good to have them both back injury-free." Drummond's block party Drummond has blocked five shots in each of the past two games and 13 in the past three. "Teams are scared to come in there," Griffin said. "It's not only those registered blocks, but it's also the ones where you see him launch and come at you. I saw Kyrie (Irving) drove right and threw up the highest floater I've seen in a game. Missed it. (Drummond) didn't get a block for that but it's the same, he affected the shot." Drummond is averaging a career-high 2.0 blocks per game. "I'm learning every game, learning what guys do when they come in and switch their hands," Drummond said. "Timing is all it is, and what hand I use. I'm so used to using my left and now I use my right, too. I'm starting to figure it out more and getting better at blocking shots without fouling." Calderon's role expanding? Casey indicated on Sunday that back-up point guard Ish Smith (adductor muscle tear) might be out another dozen games on top of the five he has already missed. That should result in more time for Jose Calderon, who has averaged 22 minutes the past four games. Calderon won't score much, but he distributes the ball and runs the floor well. Casey has been stressing ball movement, so he used Calderon in the fourth quarter Saturday instead of Reggie Jackson, who only returned with 1:21 remaining when Calderon fouled out. "I thought Jose did a good job of pushing the pace, he got the ball across the line, we shot early in the clock," Casey said. "We got to make sure we continue that ball movement." Taking care of the ball The Pistons have committed eight turnovers in the fourth quarter in each of the past two games. "Stopped executing, stopped making zip passes, stopped playing with force," Casey said. "You know the officials are going to let it be more physical, they're going to let fouls go, they're going to grab your arm on passes, so you got to

5 be down in a ready stance, ready to attack with physicality and force. We didn't do that. That's one of our habits we got to continue to work on." High-flying Bucks, Antetokounmpo visit The Milwaukee Bucks (19-9) are second in the Eastern Conference and lead in the NBA in points (118.0) and rebounds (50.4) per game. They visit Little Caesars Arena tonight (7 p.m., Fox Sports Detroit). Giannis Antetokounmpo equaled a career-high with 44 points Friday against Cleveland and is averaging 26.6 points, 13.2 rebounds and 6.1 assists. Former Piston Khris Middleton is second on the Bucks in scoring (17.4) and has converted 39 percent from 3-point range (72-of-184). The Bucks have won six of the past eight vs. the Pistons, including their lone meeting this season, at Milwaukee on Dec. 5.

6 Leuer latest Pistons vet to be ready when needed off of Casey s bench by Keith Langlois Pistons.com Web Editor Posted: Dec 16, 2018 AUBURN HILLS The thickest common thread to the five wins the Pistons strung together before their injury-fueled losing streak struck was resoundingly positive bench play. One reason the Pistons then lost six straight was the loss of Ish Smith midway through the second of those six straight losses. Smith along with veteran center Zaza Pachulia gave the second unit its personality as much as Stanley Johnson s end-to-end rushes or Langston Galloway s 3-point bombs or Bruce Brown s in-your-face defense. No coincidence, then, that when the Pistons snapped their losing streak on Saturday by ending Boston s eight-game winning streak, the bench s strong play was again at the heart of it. Johnson wound up with the team s best plus/minus at plus-13 in 12 minutes. The only reserve who finished in the red, at minus-4, was Jon Leuer and that only because after logging 12 first-half minutes while Andre Drummond endured foul trouble, Drummond stayed out to start the fourth quarter with the bench. That s when the Pistons used a 10-1 run over the first three-plus minutes to turn a tenuous seven-point lead into a more comfortable 16-point cushion that allowed them to get away with a spate of turnovers to fuel Boston s last-ditch rally. Jose Calderon has taken over for Smith, whom Dwane Casey said on Sunday he expects to miss another dozen or so games, pegging his return somewhere around Jan. 10. Leuer, who d replaced Johnson at power forward with the second unit while he missed three games with a knee injury, on Saturday stood in for Pachulia out with the flu at center. You just know exactly what you re getting from him every night, Blake Griffin said of Leuer. He s going to play good defense, run the floor, finish what he s supposed to. When guys step up and play like that, we re a tough team to beat. He was great. Leuer didn t get many chances to play in the season s first several weeks and when he did he looked pretty much like you d expect someone getting infrequent playing time after missing nearly a full season between last October s ankle injury that required season-ending surgery and August s knee problem that also required surgery. But in seven December games, Leuer more closely resembles the player who was such a big factor for the Pistons two seasons ago. In 13 minutes a game, Leuer is averaging 6.6 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting.645. It s no coincidence that s also about the time Leuer started feeling he had both the ankle and knee injuries behind him. He wasn t cleared for full contact until midway through training camp and would have alternating stretches of good and bad days for several weeks. Gradually, he d string more good days together and fewer bad ones. I would have three or four good days and then a couple of bad days knee felt bad, ankle felt bad then I would go a week, feel good, then another bad day or two, he said. Probably just over the last three weeks I ve had stretches where I haven t had any pain or thinking about my knee or ankle.

7 It would be an exaggeration to say Leuer is just happy to be physically capable of playing again, but not by much. My mindset is when you re healthy and get to play this game, it s a blessing and a great day, he said. I m just grateful for every time I get to step on the court. At the same time, I have goals and things I want to push forward and accomplish, too. One of those goals: help the second unit maintain its effectiveness and not force a disruption in its character while Smith or Pachulia or others are out. They re great pieces, no doubt, but I think when guys like me and Jose and Bruce and whoever wasn t playing, we would come in here and play three on three or four on four and really compete hard, Leuer said. That helped us stay in a rhythm so when those opportunities came, we could just step right in and kind of be in the flow of things. Getting Luke Kennard and Reggie Bullock back and now plugged into the starting lineup also has helped fortify Casey s bench by returning players like Brown and Galloway to more niche roles. Leuer can be a big part of that for his versatility at both ends able to guard a variety of frontcourt players and to play with his back to the basket or to step in and fill the role of facilitator as Pachulia has. Jon has been playing well, Casey said. He got his rhythm. Looks like he s got his bounce in his legs, his confidence. He ll be a part of what we do going forward. He just has to stay ready.

12/8/2012 Los Angeles Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns

12/8/2012 Los Angeles Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns RE: Overall thoughts on tonight s game Thank the bench, because our starters are struggling. They got us off to a bad start again. I was disappointed with