Empty the Bench

By: Brian Spencer

Over the next few weeks we’re discarding the bad and emphasizing the good on those NBA teams that may not carry much clout this year, but who are building towards a brighter future and deserve your attention over these long winter months. That’s the beauty of the NBA League Pass, kids: you’re not at the mercy of ESPN’s drab Hornets-Spurs matchups or the occasional Thursday night clunker on TNT (don’t get me wrong, we love you Ernie, Charles, and Kenny).

Instead, you get to watch the Warriors tangle with the Timberwolves, the Thunder take on the Grizzlies, the Pistons take on the Knicks. Pay little attention to the wins and losses columns for these teams–focus on the young talent and the promise of a better day instead. Andrew kicked this series off with the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this week, and up next is the Detroit Pistons.

Why They’re Worth Watching: After a series of disappointing finishes to promising seasons, Pistons fans began clamoring for change. They got their first dose of it last year when Chauncey Billups was traded for Allen Iverson… and subsequently got their first painful reminder that success is fleeting, that the importance of chemistry can never be overstated, and that all good things must eventually come to an end in the NBA. Let’s be honest: the Pistons were mostly unwatchable last year. But while the team merely dipped its toes in the rebuilding water last season, this time around they’ve thankfully jumped in the pool.

Free-agent signee Ben Gordon has one of the sweetest strokes in the league and can fill it up like few can; Richard Hamilton, by the way, can still score too. Third-year guard Rodney Stuckey is your classic boom-or-bust prospect just waiting to either breakout or fall out of grace. Rookie first-round pick Austin Daye has a ridiculous 7-2 wingspan and though he’s drawing early comparisons to teammate Tayshaun Prince (who was also wafer-thin coming out of college), most accounts say he’s actually ahead of where Prince was at this early stage of his career. Backup PG Will Bynum is an ETB favorite and could be a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year on a better team, rookie Jonas Jerebko seems like the type of scrapper who fits the Pistons mold, and hey, it’s early and there’s no telling how long he can keep this up, but Ben Wallace, back for his second tour of duty in Motown, seems to have discovered the fountain of youth. That’s a beautiful thing.

A look at the plan and what the future holds for Detroit after the break…

What’s the Plan?: For all the talk about how championships can’t be won anymore without a bona fide superstar on the roster, recent history still tells us that’s not necessarily true. Teams comprised of a highly talented, well-rounded cast of contributors who are working together on the same page, playing off each other’s strengths, and helping compensate for their weaknesses will still go far in today’s NBA.

Does it help to have a LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, or Dwight Howard? Of course it does. But though LeBron almost single-handedly took the Cavaliers to a title a few years ago, they fell mute against the depth and experience of the San Antonio Spurs. The Boston Celtics had not one but three future Hall of Famers running at full speed two years ago, but couldn’t do it again last year with their depth crippled by injury. The Lakers don’t win it all earlier this year without Pau Gasol, Lamar Odom, et al. Kobe couldn’t do it alone.

What does this have to do with the Pistons? GM Joe Dumars won one title without a “superstar”, and though he’ll be the first to admit that the league has changed since his team beat LA in the 2004 NBA Finals, he seems to think he can do it again. Gordon, still one of the league’s most deadly and underrated scorers, is to the current version of the Pistons what Hamilton was to the one that dominated for half a decade. Charlie Villanueva is, from a certain point of view, what Rasheed Wallace was. Daye is Prince, Stuckey is (in a sense) Billups, etc.

Why did Dumars spend his cap room on Gordon and Villanueva, instead of saving it for next summer? He’s aiming to build high-quality depth, and trying to create some chemistry now, not next year. He’s also evaluating the long-term prospects of his holdover vets in Prince, Hamilton, and Jason Maxiell, and deciding how long they’ll fit with the direction this transformed team is going in. Whether this is all flawed logic or another stroke of brilliance remains to be seen–and this work in progress is clearly not finished–but the hope seems to be that lightening can strike twice.

How the Future Looks: The centerpiece of the Pistons’ rebuilding process has to some degree been pinned on Stuckey, who’s been billed as a future All Star but after two seasons is still a question mark. Can he be the full-time PG the team wants him to be? Will both his shooting (42% on his career so far) and his ability to set up his teammates for high-percentage shots, à la Billups, improve by leaps and bounds, or just marginally? The raw talent, size, and intangibles are all there, but he hasn’t yet put it all together. Stuckey alone won’t dictate this franchise’s future, but he’s a big part of it and everybody within the organization is holding their breath as they wait for him to flourish or flounder.

The Pistons will likely have a top-15 pick in next year’s draft. They’ll have some roster spots open, and perhaps enough cap space to scoop up a fairly good player or two that get lost in the free-agency shuffle. Assuming they do the right thing and re-sign Bynum, the backcourt will be fairly settled and should allow the team to focus on adding some size to the thin frontcourt. Sure, Wallace is looking more and more like the league’s best stopgap solution this season, but at 35 years old, he’s still just that, a stopgap; Maxiell, Chris Wilcox, and Kwame Brown just aren’t going to cut it. The backcourt has been reloaded, pending Stuckey’s growth (or lack thereof). The next step is bringing in the bigs.

More from The Kids are Alright Series:
- Memphis Grizzlies
- Philadelphia 76ers

Possibly Related Content:

1. Out With the Old, In With the New – Detroit Pistons 2009-10 Season Preview


2. What’s on Greg Monroe’s Shoulders? Oh, Just the Hopes of the Detroit Pistons Franchise


3. The Kids are Alright: Philadelphia 76ers


4. The Kids are Alright: New York Knicks


5. The Kids are Alright: Sacramento Kings