Does Stan Van Gundy Have Tougher Job Fixing Andre Drummond or Pistons' Roster?
On paper, Stan Van Gundy inherited a potential centerpiece in Andre Drummond and a roster that underperformed during a 29-win 2013-14 campaign when he signed on to become head coach and president of the Detroit Pistons this past summer.
In reality, Van Gundy had taken over a team that has nosedived to a 3-18 record following 12 consecutive losses. And Drummond, shooting a career-worst 47.0 percent from the field, has taken a significant step in the wrong direction on his quest to become Detroit's primary building block.
Van Gundy may have known there was work to be done, but he could not have imagined the massive scope of this rebuilding project.
"We are in a bad place," Van Gundy bluntly stated after his team suffered a 108-101 overtime loss to the blatantly tanking Philadelphia 76ers on December 6, per Terry Foster of The Detroit News.
Owning both a five-year, $35 million contract and control of the Pistons' basketball operations, Van Gundy has the time, security and tools to turn things around in the Motor City. But this franchise and its 6'11", 280-pound face both require copious amounts of attention.
The question Van Gundy will need to answer quickly is which reclamation project looms larger: getting Drummond back on track or overhauling the supporting cast?
The Main Attraction
It isn't difficult to see the appeal of Drummond as the team's brightest star.
The burly big man packs absurd amounts of length and athleticism into his near-300-pound frame. At the 2012 draft combine, Drummond dazzled with a 7'6.25" wingspan and a 33.5" max vertical, per Draft Express.
Even with the caveat attached that he's as raw as his birth certificate suggests—he won't turn 22 until next August—his physical gifts are too tantalizing to ignore.
"Yes he's young, but a 7'0", 280-pound guy who can run the floor the way Drummond runs and who protects the rim. ... When you describe all the physical attributes, that's a hard call to leave a guy at home," said USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo while explaining his decision to tab Drummond for his 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup roster, per ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
And it's not as if Drummond's legend has grown from his raw ability alone. He has been a force inside NBA lines before.
He closed the 2013-14 campaign at breakneck pace. He averaged 18.4 points on 64.2 percent shooting, 17.4 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 1.1 blocks over his final eight games of the season.
Granted, that's a minuscule sample size. But to give those numbers context, just realize that only once in NBA history has a player averaged at least 18 points, 17 boards, one steal and one block over an entire season (Hall of Famer Elvin Hayes in 1973-74).
What Drummond did was special, and it seemed to foreshadow a special kind of future—a future that Van Gundy was thrilled to be a part of.
"There's nothing about Andre Drummond that doesn't appeal to me," Van Gundy told reporters at his introductory press conference in May. "I think [this because of] his athleticism, what he's accomplished at a young age."
Given that Van Gundy had previously helped transform the similarly freakish Dwight Howard into an All-NBA force when both were with the Orlando Magic, he seemed like the perfect coaching mind to tap into Drummond's enormous potential.
That's still a possible ending to this story, but the plot has already taken an unforeseen twist. Despite having Van Gundy at the helm, the third-year center has failed to match the production of his sophomore season.
| 2013-14 | 13.5 | 62.3 | 13.2 | 1.4 | 121 | 104 | 22.6 |
| 2014-15 | 11.4 | 47.0 | 11.7 | 1.7 | 97 | 100 | 16.5 |
To a certain extent, some of this could be expected.
Van Gundy is asking Drummond to do more than he has ever done. Last season, the center said, "I pride myself on getting offense rebounds" because "that's how I get my points," per MLive.com's David Mayo. Van Gundy has tried to expand Drummond's offensive arsenal this time around.
Of his 219 field-goal attempts, 25.6 percent have come outside of three feet from the basket. Last season, that number was only 18.6. Even his shots from close range are different. He has already attempted 32 hook shots, just 16 fewer than he put up all last season. On a related note, his conversion rate at the rim has fallen from 68.2 percent to 57.1.
"Van Gundy isn’t bringing along Drummond’s post game gently," wrote Grantland's Zach Lowe. "He’s trying to mold Drummond in one season from a young Tyson Chandler into an unformed Dwight Howard—a pick-and-roll dunk machine who can also serve as the back-to-the-basket hub of a functional NBA offense."
Van Gundy has tried to speed up Drummond's development by forcing him out of his comfort zone, but the result has simply left the big guy looking uncomfortable.
"The Pistons are making a concerted effort to feature Drummond in the post, which does two things: tests his development and comfort level there, while also keeping him away from the offensive glass, his best feature," wrote The Detroit News' Vincent Goodwill Jr.
Initially, Van Gundy seemed committed to the process, saying, "Going away from him would be a major mistake for a 21-year old guy," per Goodwill.
Those comments came on November 13. The following night, Drummond scored nine points while connecting on only four of his 11 field-goal attempts. It was the third straight game in which he had shot under 37 percent from the field.
By November 15, Drummond was telling reporters of a meeting with Van Gundy about reducing his offensive involvement, per Mayo:
"Stan and I got a chance to sit down this morning and we all know the offense hasn't really come around for me at this start of the season yet, and it's really been frustrating for me. So Stan and me really just talked and we just decided to go out and get on the rebounds, because I'm one of the best rebounders in the league. So I decided to really just focus on the defensive end today and let the offense come to me.
"
Whatever button Van Gundy pressed during the meeting, it might have finally been the right one.
The volume in Drummond's first nine games (8.7 points, 11.3 rebounds, 1.7 blocks) doesn't look a lot different than what he has done in his last 12 (13.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.9 blocks). But the biggest change has been the efficiency behind those stats, as Drummond has gone from finishing 41.0 percent of his field-goal attempts to 50.7 percent of them.
Amid Detroit's growing mountain of losses, there have been signs of progress from Drummond. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Van Gundy's biggest challenge: fixing the rest of this roster.
The Supporting Actors
There is one particularly cruel aspect of being trapped in the middle of a dumpster fire—it's impossible to know where rock bottom is.
Did the Pistons hit their low point during that aforementioned loss to the woeful Sixers? Detroit's record also boasts double-digit home losses to the 9-14 Orlando Magic and 5-16 Los Angeles Lakers. The Pistons are also one of only four teams to have lost to the Kevin Love-less Minnesota Timberwolves.
Having said that, it's still possible the Pistons haven't bottomed out yet. They could easily tie the franchise record for futility (14 straight losses) with six straight upcoming games against teams with a winning record.
And that's a terrifying thought since this losing streak already seems to be weighing on the players.
"Other guys are noticing it within guys," Van Gundy said recently, per Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. "I don't think there's really any dispute. It's a thing with players where nobody's going to admit that they're playing tight, but yet they see it in everybody else."
Of course, the alternative is an even more damning diagnosis. If tightness isn't the source of Detroit's struggles, then a lack of talent—or, at the very least, cohesive talent—might be the cause.
Something has caused the Pistons to plummet from last season's 19th-ranking in offensive efficiency to this season's 29th-placed perch. Detroit has played 18 games that ended in regulation this year. Only once in those 18 games has it topped the century mark. Six other times it has failed to put up even 90 points in 48 minutes.
Pick the problem, and this offense has it.
Spacing is an issue thanks to the frontcourt trio of Drummond, Josh Smith and Greg Monroe's inability to pull defenders away from the basket. That challenge is compounded by the fact Detroit ranks 21st in three-point percentage with a conversion rate of only 33.5. Of the nine players holding regular rotation spots, only two have a three-point percentage above 35.0: Caron Butler (39.1) and Kyle Singler (40.6).
The Pistons also are not a good passing team. They rank 27th in assists per game (19.5) and 21st in assists percentage (56.6). Smith (4.9) and Brandon Jennings (6.2) are the only two players averaging even 3.5 assists a night. And there is only so much time Van Gundy can afford to put either on the ball since both have quick triggers and are shooting below 39 percent from the field.
Detroit's most consistent scorer has been Monroe (14.3 points), a space-sapping big who can't stretch the floor the way Van Gundy would like and may be on his way out of Motown, as ProBasketballTalk's Sean Highkin reports, after choosing to play this season for his one-year, $5.5 million qualifying offer.
Despite having a fairly strong collection of athletes, the Pistons sit 23rd in fast-break scoring with 10.2 transition points per game, via Team Rankings. And despite having a glass-cleaner like Drummond, they sit a forgettable 14th with a 26.1 offensive rebounding percentage.
Van Gundy's biggest offseason investment was made in floor-spacer Jodie Meeks, who has yet to play due to a lower-back stress reaction suffered a week into training camp. Van Gundy also gave a two-year, $6 million deal to D.J. Augustin, who has shot 35.3 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from deep.
That definitely hurts, but Detroit's biggest problems are the same ones left by former general manager Joe Dumars.
"Smith is keen on shooting from the perimeter, despite a history that suggests he shouldn't be," wrote Sporting News' Tim Faklis. "Jennings picks shots as if he's still fresh off his 55-point outburst from over five years ago."
The problem is the rest of the NBA knows these players have these reputations and deserve them. Moving either will be a challenge, especially when taking into account the money both are still owed: Jennings will collect $8.3 million next season, and Smith will take home $13.5 million each of the next two years.
Van Gundy would have a hard time giving them away, let alone shipping them out in a deal that returned anything of value. Making matters worse, the Pistons don't have any real sweeteners on the rest of the roster to add to a trade.
If Drummond isn't untouchable—and he almost certainly is—the Pistons can't afford to move their presumed building block with his stat sheet sagging like it is. And Monroe can't be dealt without his permission since he went the qualifying offer route.
Moving down the roster, the Pistons have either mediocre veterans (Butler, Augustin, Singler, Jonas Jerebko) or unproven prospects (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Spencer Dinwiddie, Tony Mitchell). No team will break the bank to acquire either type.
As for future draft picks, a 3-18 team shouldn't even entertain the idea of giving them up. Whether the Pistons want a secondary star beside Drummond or a potential replacement for the centerpiece designation, their best hope is finding one during the league's annual talent grab.
"Rounding out the roster is a process that could take years—if it happens at all," wrote Bleacher Report's Jim Cavan.
Reshaping the roster will be an enormous endeavor and one that doesn't appear to offer any simple solutions. But it must be done, and Van Gundy knows it.
"I'm not a real quick-trigger guy but...you're at a quarter of the season. It's been bad," he said, per Mayo. "I think you have to evaluate where you're going, and what you want to do, and what your objectives are, and all of that, and we've certainly talked about that, yes."
Whatever path the Pistons pursue from here will be one of hope—hope that this cast of characters greatly improves or hope that the trade market yields players who will.
Detroit cannot progress without Drummond cementing his place as the most important piece of the franchise's present and future. But his development will be for naught if Van Gundy cannot field the right group around him.
Van Gundy has a foundation for what he wants to achieve with Drummond. But this roster is looking more and more like a group of placeholders, blocking the Pistons from the clean slate they really need to build something of substance.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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