[high floorParticipant]

The more I think about this team, the more I like them to take a leap next season. With the exception of Marcus Morris (who I think has leveled off) I can realistically see every starter & key bench player improving their games after another year of familiarity with SVG’s system. Their reserves were kind of "meh" last year….. but now I think they’re equipped with an above average supporting cast off the pine.

1.) Reggie Jackson – I see him making an improvement in both FG & 3pt % as he enters his age 26 season. Overall he averaged 18.8ppg last year in less than 31mpg. Not bad. Needs to improve passing & using his absurd length more to his advantage on defense.

2.) KCP – I really like KCP. Similar to Jackson, I see Caldwell-Pope making nice improvements in both shooting departments.. but what I would really like to see is an improvement in court awareness/passing. He only averaged 1.8 assists in 36mpg

3.) Tobias Harris – He was impressive after the trade last year, slashing 16.6/6.2/2.6 while shooting 48% from the field & 90% from the line! All he needs to do is improve a little on defense & he’ll be a clear above average SF.

4.) Marcus Morris – In my opinion Marcus Morris is what he is. A nice forward piece who can slide between positions & not be a liability on defense. Ultimately the Pistons will need to upgrade this position to realize their full potential within the next couple seasons.

5.) Andre Drummond – His free throw shooting may be a lost cause, but the 2 main aspects of his game I see him improving next year are his FG%, post defense & help defense. There’s no reason he can’t be a defensive anchor with his size & physical tools. 

6.) Bench: Ish Smith is a significant upgrade over Steve Blake for the backup PG spot. I really like the Boban signing, as he can do big damage in limited minutes against 2nd string bigs. Stanley Johnson may end up starting at the end of the year.. future stud. John Leurer is a nice stretch big that seems underrated, 

Overall, I think this team’s ceiling is 50 wins… a mark they can realistically hit. They were 22nd in 3pt percentage which I’m predicting will improve to 15-16th this season, and they’re downright dominant in the rebounding department which will likely end up in the top 3 again. I like them to surprise a lot of people and make a run at the 3-4 seed this year.

[r377Participant]

As a pistons fan I like what they did in the offseason. Ish Smith was good but I was REALLY excited to get Boban.

I would have liked them to have gotten a good veteran SG to split time with KCP. KCP is a decent player but has never been a great shooter. He is getting bit of a fan base on here – I think he is almost getting overrated. For past 30 years, we have had Joe Dumars, Stackhouse and Rip Hamilton. KCP will never be in this sort of company. Its hard to get that excited over KCP (check his %)

As a fan its just nice to be back in the playoffs – we had a quite a few years in the lottery. Whether they make it into the second round or bail out in 6 or 7 games in the first round, I will still be relatively happy

[Robb_CParticipant]

 I think the Pistons will be Head to Head with Pacers for the Division..they have a ton of size.. 

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 Drummond really needs to make a significant leap and show he can be a franchise player for them to seriously contend. While he put up All-Star stats last season, he is still a liability in several areas and that prevents him from being a truly elite big. People compare him to Howard in Orlando, but he is still a ways off from that right now. Offensively, he needs to be a guy you can go to in the post and rely on him to be able get a bucket when all else breaks down. Defensively, there is no reason he can’t be an anchor and elite rim protector with better awareness.

They have some nice other nice young peices on their team, but Drummond is the one guy with true star potential and he needs to establish himself as a leader. They will only go as far as he can take them imo.

 

[WetalkinboutpracticeParticipant]

 I believe Stanley Johnson, with his immense versatility, could be the piece that puts Detroit over the hump. Ideally he’d be starting at the three with Tobias sliding down to the four, but that only works if Harris can be consistent defensively while upping his percentages from the perimeter & spreading the floor offensively. While Marcus Morris moves to number one option off the bench.

[markfitz14Participant]

I think Stanley will be the starting SF the first game this year. He will have some growing pains this year but he can help imrove the team. 

[kikikikiParticipant]

 Detroit has a solid starting 5, along Stanley Johnson and marcus morris of the bench both are good or even starting along with Ish smith as a nice back-up and don’t sleep on John Leuer as well. Baynes is nice a solid low minutes sub at center along BBAN in limited minutes!

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