Brandon Jennings to Detroit Pistons via S&T

[CelticsFan9]

lets make a bet here, pistons have a better year then our celtics, you guys on here say brandon jennings is so bad and this is such a terrible move, and josh smith sucks , thats all I read on this blog.

I love rondo, I love KO, I love green and I love our boston celtics, but the Detroit Pistons made moves this offseason that bettered there team and made them a playoff team and if their talent comes together they will have a contender, Thats all we would want at this point.

I will make a bet with anyone on this site that Brandon Jennings and the Detroit Pistons have a better year then our celtics. If brandon jennings is so bad like people say( WITHOUT EVEN WATCHING HIM PLAY) and Josh Smith is so terrible, then this should be a lock bet for you guys.

For starters, I'm fairly certain nobody has said the Celtics were better than the Pistons right now.  I certainly think they'll be better than Boston, but not by much.

Detroit's moves will make them competitive, I agree, but I'm skeptical about their chances at a playoff run (or even a championship run, for that matter).  They need to make some other moves if they want to take it to the next level.

I don't think Jennings and Smith are terrible.  Personally, I don't like them as players, but that doesn't mean I dislike them.  And actually I do watch Jennings, but not on a consistent basis because Bucks basketball makes your eyes bleed (or so I've heard).

Maybe you should get off your high horse before you get hurt.

[Eddie20]

Detroit isn't a playoff team to me.

Go ahead and try to name 8 teams that make it ahead of them.

Miami
Chicago
Indiana
Brooklyn
New York
Atlanta
Washington
Cleveland

Those last three teams will compete with Detroit, but I think the Pistons' lack of shooting will end up shooting them in the foot.

I would love to take that bet! You mention outside shooting, but Jennings, Billups, Kandwell-Pope, Singler, and Gigi can all shoot and provide spacing. Jennings is getting a bad rap on his shooting ability because he and Ellis had to force a lot of stuff for the offensively challenged Bucks team. However, he is really good on spot up jumpers and will probably see more open looks then he ever has.

I don't doubt that Jennings will get better looks in Detroit than he did in Milwaukee, but I do doubt that he'll get many of them.

Stopping Detroit shouldn't be that hard.  Dare Smith to shoot (and Stuckey if he's starting, as he isn't a great shooter either), box Drummond out, and let Jennings and Monroe run PNRs (Monroe struggles in the PNR, and Jennings never took advantage of what could've been a great combo of him and Sanders in Milwaukee.).

Defensively, Jennings and Monroe are lazy, and Smith is prone to not boxing out, relying on his athleticism for rebounds.  Drummond should be good in the middle, but I'm worried about the wing.  Very vulnerable.

Jennings shot 38% on 3's last season, averaging slightly over 2 makes a game, I would expect him to be at least 40% this season.

Stopping Detroit will be easy? Letting Smith shoot is a strategy that most team employ, but miraculously he is still able to average close to 20 ppg. Expect to see a lot more Jennings/Drummond high PNR's with Drummond using his athleticism going to the basket for lobs much like Howard and Chandler. Monroe is the post man, but he could play high post as well with his respectable mid-range game and his excellent passing. I also question  just how easy you make it sound in boxing Drummond out. I also expect Kaldwell-Pope to play much more than Stuckey next season. His outside shooting will be beneficial in terms of overall spacing.

Defensively speaking, they will lead the league in blocked shots and probably defensive rebounding as well. Monroe isn't the best defender, but he will cover the weaker 4 or 5 nightly with Drummond taking on the better offensive player. I'm not sure how much it matters on whether Smith uses athleticism or fundamental soundness for rebounds. The bottom line is that he gets his fair share.

I think you're overblowing their weaknesses and underestimating their strengths immensely. If this was the C's team, I'm sure you would likely sing a different tune with the following players being so young...Smith 27, Jennings 23, Monroe 23, Drummond 19, and Caldwell-Pope 20.

[Kane3387]

I was thinking, aren't Brandon Jennings, Rodney Stuckey Brandon Knight and Will Bynum just about the exact same type of player?

http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.cgi?request=1&sum=1&p1=jennibr01&y1=2013&p2=knighbr03&y2=2013&p3=bynumwi01&y3=2013&p4=stuckro01&y4=2013

Check out their career Per36 numbers and some of their advanced numbers.

Yeah, they come in slightly different sizes but they are all combo guards that kind of have to play PG because they are bad defending SGs, aren't very good shooters or passers or rebounders and extremely inefficient scorers.

One of the worst things that ever happened to this league was Allen Iverson. An entire generation of NBA guards trying to emulate him has produced some of the most horrific shoot first PGs this league has ever and will ever see but because there are so many guard positions to fill in the NBA, they stick in the league.

Strange that Joe Dumars has such an affliction for such players.

Dumars definitely has a thing for Iverson-lite guys (and even past-his-prime Iverson).

Jennings is probably the best of the bunch, though--not counting AI himself.

Lol maybe bc he played and won with Isaiah Thomas. You know, the guy the answer grew up emulating...

[BudweiserCeltic]

lets make a bet here, pistons have a better year then our celtics, you guys on here say brandon jennings is so bad and this is such a terrible move, and josh smith sucks , thats all I read on this blog.

I love rondo, I love KO, I love green and I love our boston celtics, but the Detroit Pistons made moves this offseason that bettered there team and made them a playoff team and if their talent comes together they will have a contender, Thats all we would want at this point.

I will make a bet with anyone on this site that Brandon Jennings and the Detroit Pistons have a better year then our celtics. If brandon jennings is so bad like people say( WITHOUT EVEN WATCHING HIM PLAY) and Josh Smith is so terrible, then this should be a lock bet for you guys.

Glad to have someone here, as opposed to the rest, who has seen Brandon Jennings play O.o

[nickagneta]

It should be fun to see where the Pistons rank next year in team offensive efficiency, team TS% and team EFG%. People complain about the C's offensive efficiency and pace, well Detroit ran a slower pace and was worse in offensive efficiency than the C's last year. But the C's still had a better EFG% and TS%.

Does Knight being swapped for Jennings and the addition of Smith make the same system run at a faster pace, run more efficiently, or shoot better? Because if it doesn't, Detroit will be a bad offensive team once again and probably out of the playoffs.

Then again, the East after the top 5 teams will be terrible next year so maybe they do make the playoffs as a 35-47 team or something like that.

[Galeto]

Detroit now has two of the most inefficient chuckers on their team next season.  Because of their defense and the weak depth of the Eastern Conference, I think they'll be solid, certainly better than the Celtics but they have a boring ceiling.  They could lead the league in most exciting dunks and most groan inducing attempted jumpshots. 

[Eddie20]

Then again, the East after the top 5 teams will be terrible next year so maybe they do make the playoffs as a 35-47 team or something like that.

They were 29-53 last year so I think a 6 game increase is way too low with the additions they made. I think a 40 win season is well within reason.

[CelticsFan9]

Jennings shot 38% on 3's last season, averaging slightly over 2 makes a game, I would expect him to be at least 40% this season.

Stopping Detroit will be easy? Letting Smith shoot is a strategy that most team employ, but miraculously he is still able to average close to 20 ppg. Expect to see a lot more Jennings/Drummond high PNR's with Drummond using his athleticism going to the basket for lobs much like Howard and Chandler. Monroe is the post man, but he could play high post as well with his respectable mid-range game and his excellent passing. I also question  just how easy you make it sound in boxing Drummond out. I also expect Kaldwell-Pope to play much more than Stuckey next season. His outside shooting will be beneficial in terms of overall spacing.

Defensively speaking, they will lead the league in blocked shots and probably defensive rebounding as well. Monroe isn't the best defender, but he will cover the weaker 4 or 5 nightly with Drummond taking on the better offensive player. I'm not sure how much it matters on whether Smith uses athleticism or fundamental soundness for rebounds. The bottom line is that he gets his fair share.

I think you're overblowing their weaknesses and underestimating their strengths immensely. If this was the C's team, I'm sure you would likely sing a different tune with the following players being so young...Smith 27, Jennings 23, Monroe 23, Drummond 19, and Caldwell-Pope 20.

I'd like to start by saying I'm not much of a homer.  If this were the C's team I wouldn't be super excited because a) Jennings is not the kind of PG I'd want running a team and b) Smith at SF is not ideal.  I do like Monroe and Drummond as a frountcourt, though.

Jennings can make threes for sure.  We agree on that.  Like I said, he's going to make shots, but I still think he'll be as inefficient as ever.  That's not to say he won't play well, it's just that having a PG who shoots 39% doesn't bode well for a team.  Personally, I wouldn't want him on my team, especially when you factor in his poor defense.

Is 17.5 PPG really that close to 20 (Just semantics, but I thought I'd bring it up.)?  Smith is a versatile scorer at the PF position, but it's much easier to guard him as a SF because there are two bigs taking up space in the paint.  His jumper is not solid, and his three is...well, it's just not good.  That's why it's going to be easy to contain him; having Smith at SF hurts Detroit on offense.

It is easy to box someone out.  If you do, and they get the rebound, there's a 95% they fouled you.  Hopefully the refs call it.  Drummond is a work in progress on offense.  PNRs with Jennings could work, but like I said before, Jennings will need to improve his decision-making in order for this to work (I think Jennings will figure it out, but I'm skeptical.)

I would like to see KCP play more than Stuckey.  Not a fan of him at all.

Defensively, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

TP for the debating.  This is fun.

[Galeto]

lets make a bet here, pistons have a better year then our celtics, you guys on here say brandon jennings is so bad and this is such a terrible move, and josh smith sucks , thats all I read on this blog.

I love rondo, I love KO, I love green and I love our boston celtics, but the Detroit Pistons made moves this offseason that bettered there team and made them a playoff team and if their talent comes together they will have a contender, Thats all we would want at this point.

I will make a bet with anyone on this site that Brandon Jennings and the Detroit Pistons have a better year then our celtics. If brandon jennings is so bad like people say( WITHOUT EVEN WATCHING HIM PLAY) and Josh Smith is so terrible, then this should be a lock bet for you guys.

So if people had watched Jennings play, the ONLY opinion they can have is that he's good?  Umm, the guy is a bad defender and a very inefficient scorer who unfortunately tries to score too much instead of focusing more on passing.  He's like Antoine, with all the skills to be a top notch point guard but who sees himself as a swaggerish scorer.

[cman88]

im surprised some of you dont see the pistons as a playoff team..they are basically the hawks of last year.

probably a 6-7 seed first round out

[nickagneta]

Then again, the East after the top 5 teams will be terrible next year so maybe they do make the playoffs as a 35-47 team or something like that.

They were 29-53 last year so I think a 6 game increase is way too low with the additions they made. I think a 40 win season is well within reason.

That could happen. They could also have massive chemistry issues with a bunch of guys wanting shots and not getting enough of them. Bad chemistry could lead to bad record.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them finish with 45 wins. I also wouldn't be surprised to see them with less than 30 wins. Inefficient offense in the NBA without great to elite defense is just not a playoff formula, at least not with young, non-playoff hardened teams it isn't.

[gar]

Detroit will be fun to watch. See what Smith does in his new surroundings, just glad he is not a Celtic. He tanked most of last year and then played a solid month or two at the end. Lots of talent on that team. They could surprise a lot of people if Chauncey and Mo Cheeks can get them to play as a unit. Look for Chauncey to be in a floor coach mode. He will keep people honest.

Jennings is better than any guard on the Celtics save Rondo and Bynum and Billips are better than any PG on the Celtics save Rondo. So I don't know why people are trashing them. They are stacked we have a lot of fair to middling guards waiting to prove themselves(Rondo excepted).

[LooseCannon]

I love rondo, I love KO, I love green and I love our boston celtics, but the Detroit Pistons made moves this offseason that bettered there team and made them a playoff team and if their talent comes together they will have a contender, Thats all we would want at this point.

They have some good players.  The question is whether or not those players fit well together.  The Pistons look like a team that could be less than the sum of its parts.  I think their best hope is to be a team with a crushing defense and an occasionally brutal offense that has problems scoring because it can't be effective from the perimeter. 

Imagine something like the Pacers last season but worse on both offense and defense.  Or maybe like the Rose-less Bulls.  The Pacers, Bulls, Hawks, Celtics, and Bucks all made the playoffs last season with above-average defensive rating and below-average offensive rating (as listed on basketball-reference.com).  It must be an Eastern Conference thing, as the Grizzlies were the only team to do that in the West.

If they're 5th-best on defense and 19th on offense, they should be a playoff team.  If they are more like 9th in defense and 25th in offense, it could be a miserable year for Pistons fans.

[Yogi]

People always get excited when a team gets a couple of new toys.  Detroit Pistons and their 0 All-stars will be fighting for the playoffs along with every other team outside of Miami, Brooklyn, Indiana, Chicago and New York... and there is no guarantee they will make it. 

[nickagneta]

Detroit will be fun to watch. See what Smith does in his new surroundings, just glad he is not a Celtic. He tanked most of last year and then played a solid month or two at the end. Lots of talent on that team. They could surprise a lot of people if Chauncey and Mo Cheeks can get them to play as a unit. Look for Chauncey to be in a floor coach mode. He will keep people honest.

Jennings is better than any guard on the Celtics save Rondo and Bynum and Billips are better than any PG on the Celtics save Rondo. So I don't know why people are trashing them. They are stacked we have a lot of fair to middling guards waiting to prove themselves(Rondo excepted).

To be fair, saying you have better PGs than the Celtics, discounting Rondo, is like saying "Yeah my three cars aren't as good as that Ferrari but they sure are better than having no car at all."

Jennings has all sorts of flaws in his game and about the only thing he has done consistently in the league is score a lot while shooting a whole lot. Bynum is just a much worse and smaller version of Jennings. Chauncey, as much as I loved his game and loved him as a player and wish he was a Celtic from the moment we drafted him, is D.O.N.E.

Cheeks will have his hands full finding a system that is going to make a young group of extremely inefficient offensive players, an efficient cohesive group. If that group is in the top 15 in offensive efficiency and wins over 45 games, Cheeks will deserve Coach of the Year. I don't envy the job he is going to have coaching this group of chuckers to be offensively disciplined and to stay within the system he sets up, that is for sure.