As of Tuesday, January 21st, the Detroit Pistons are 16-28. After losing a tough game on MLK day to the Washington Wizards the Pistons inch closer to falling out of playoff contention. Even though the Pistons are only 3 games out of the final playoff spot in the east, their focus should be on building sustainable success for the future.
With Drummond’s future in Detroit uncertain and Blake Griffin injured again, time is ticking for the Detroit Pistons. Between now and the February 6th trade deadline, the Pistons should be trying to get maximum value for veteran players such as: Markieff Morris, Langston Galloway, Derrick Rose, and Andre Drummond.
The goal is not to tank, because tanking embraces a losing culture, but to give young players the opportunity to fail and grow. To me a successful rebuild is giving players with potential the opportunity to grow and fail, but learn from those failures to get better. In the process of those growing pains, naturally a team will improve their draft position because they will be losing games.
In order to build a NBA team that has sustainable success, a franchise must do two things: Draft Players Who Will Be Put In The Best Position To Succeed and Develop Those Players Together To Build To Something Special.
Luckily the Detroit Pistons have one of those things in Dwayne Casey and his great developmental staff. We have seen more growth from young players this season under Casey, than Van Gundy had in 4 years as Pistons head coach.
In this series we will look at some of those young players the Pistons have invested in and try to see what kind of players they can become in the near future when the Pistons look to return to relevance again in the 2020s.
The Formula To Evaluate Players:
We will be using 10 attributes to grade specific players on. The 5 offensive categories are Interior Scoring, Perimeter Scoring, Creating off the dribble, Ball handling, and Play making. The 5 defensive categories are Interior Defense, Perimeter Defense, Rebounding, Athleticism and Strength. These ten attributes will be graded on a 5 star scale, 1 the worst, 5 the best. This will be a projection of what kind of player they will be in certain areas. Here are some examples:
Interior Scoring
1- Poor: Tony Snell
2- Below Average: Thon Maker
3- Average: Markieff Morris
4- Above Average: Andre Drummond
5- Excels: Derrick Rose
Athleticism
1- Poor: Tim Frazier
2- Below Average: Derrick Rose
3- Average: Blake Griffin
4- Above Average: Thon Maker
5- Excels: Andre Drummond
Players will also be given bonus points for intangibles they possess. The five intangibles will be Durability, Mental Toughness, Work Ethic, Basketball IQ, and Competitiveness. Each intangible will add a point to a players final score.
Final Grade-
A players final grade will come from adding their offensive and defensive grades together. Then multiply that number by 2. Then you will add how ever many intangible points and divide the total number by 100. Here are what the grades mean:
A: 95 and above
A player who scores a 95 or higher is considered the best of the best. This is the type of player you build a championship team around. Examples of this type of player are Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, and Lebron James.
A- 90-94
Any player who scores between a 90-94 is the next best thing to the NBA’s elite. This player is an All NBA caliber player. This player could be the best player on a championship team, but has to be surrounded by other All Stars and quality NBA players. Some of theses players have the potential to reach the next level but haven’t taken the next step yet. Examples of this player are Pascal Siakam, Russel Westbrook, and Jimmy Butler.
B 85-89
This type of player would basically be an All Star. While they cannot be the best player on a championship team, they are consistently All Stars each season and can lead their teams to the playoffs. Examples of this kind of player would be Kemba Walker, Rudy Gobert, and Victor Oladipo.
B- 80-84
This player would be considered an above average NBA starter. While never good enough to be an All Star, this player either excels at certain parts of the game, or is an overall solid player. Examples of this player would be Eric Bledsoe, Evan Fournier, and PJ Tucker.
C 75-79
Any player who falls within a 75-79 is considered an average NBA starter. They aren’t big contributors to a team’s success, but they also do not hurt their teams. Examples of these players are Enes Kanter, Avery Bradley, and Trevor Ariza.
C- 70-74
This type of player would be considered a role player. While not typically starters, they can be solid off the bench or fill a role in the staring line up. Examples of these players are Seth Curry, Doug McDermott, and Jordan Clarkson.
D 69 or below
I decided to group all players under a 70 in one group. Mainly because if a player scores under a 70, their really not worth evaluating. Examples of these players would be Thon Maker because he’s probably one of the worst basketball players I’ve even seen.
Bruce Brown- PG/SG, 23 Years Old, 6’5 /202 lbs
Bruce Brown will be the first young promising Piston player to be evaluated. After a solid rookie season, in where Brown started 56 games at SG for the Pistons, he has taken on the role of point guard after the injury to Reggie Jackson. Brown is doubling his scoring average from last year, jumping from 4.3 to 8.7 points a game. He is also averaging 4.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 1.2 steals a game. His shooting splits of 43.6/33.3/68.4 are solid improvements in his sophmore season as well.
Evaluation:
Offense: Interior Scoring-3/ Perimeter Scoring-3/ Creating off the dribble-2/ Ball Handling-3/ Play making-4/
Defense: Interior Defense-3/ Perimeter Defense-4/ Rebounding-4/ Athleticism-4/ Strength-5
Intangibles-
-Durability✅ -Mental Toughness✅ -Work Ethic✅ – Basketball IQ✅ -Competitiveness ✅ + 5 for Intangibles
Analysis:
Brown was given a 3 or 4 in every category, both offensively and defensively, except creating off the dribble. On the offense end he was given a 3 for interior scoring and perimeter scoring. Brown has definitely gotten better as a shooter and his speed and strength should get him some easy buckets at the basket.
The main reason Bruce will likely never be an elite or even a very good scorer is because he will likely never be a player who can create his own offense and score off the dribble. I just don’t see him ever being a good shooter off the dribble or having the ability to get to the rim to create shots for others consistently. That will likely be Bruce’s biggest weakness as an NBA player.
As for ball handling and play making, Brown projects as above average for both. While i gave him a 3 for ball handling, he will never be a player who can run an offense and create his own shot off the dribble consistently.
The only offensive category Brown received a 4 in was play making. Brown projects as a solid play maker, with 165 assists to 73 turnovers this year. A 2.2 turnover percentage is fine, but he will need to continue to improve if he is to contribute in a bigger way on offense.
Defense will likely always be his calling card, as Brown was given a 3 for interior defense, and a 4 for perimeter defense. I know its strange analyzing a guard for interior defense , but in today’s NBA, switch ability is important and Bruce will be switched on to bigs at the NBA level.
At 6’5/205, Bruce has good size as a point guard so he has the potential to guard 3 or even 4 positions. Perimeter defense will be one of Brown’s best attributes as he was close to earning a 5.
As a rebounder, Brown is averaging more rebounds than assists (4.4 rpg to 3.9 apg). He will be a very good rebounder as a point guard, so he was awarded a 4.
Brown is also an athletic player who has a strength and speed advantage against many of his opponents. While he is not one of the strongest players in the league, I gave him 5 because of his physical toughness at the point guard position.
Final Verdict: Bruce Brown will be an above average starting point guard, who excels on defense and provides solid playmaking and finishing around the rim.
Player Comparison: Rajon Rondo Lite– Better defensively, but doesn’t have the ball handling/ court vision to be as impactful on offense and will likely never be able to run an offense like Rondo.
Performance – 40×2+5= 80/100 or 80%
Player Grade: B- An Above Average NBA Starter
Let me know if you like this system of evaluating young NBA players and who like to see more. I would certainly be open to doing more for young Pistons players like Luke Kennard and Sekou Doumbouya.
In game 44 out of 82 the Detroit Pistons will be up against the Washington Wizards who have lost their last three games. However, for the Pistons they are coming off back to back road wins against the loaded Boston Celtics and the young Atlanta Hawks. This is the Pistons last game on the three game road trip before they are home for the next four games. With that said it would be big for the Pistons to get out of Washington with a victory today.
Piston Territory 