The Detroit Pistons have begun the process of re-modeling their roster this offseason. They traded for Ersan Ilyasova and selected Stanley Johnson in the NBA Draft this week.
Next up for president of basketball operations and head coach Stan Van Gundy will be targeting free agent prospects come July 1. Considering what the Pistons still need filled in terms of their starting unit, Van Gundy plans to zero in on small forward prospects in free agency, via Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:
When the clock strikes midnight on July 1, Stan Van Gundy’s first course of action will be to call Reggie Jackson. Minutes later, he’ll place two calls to candidates to fill the last remaining open starting berth in the Pistons 2015-16 lineup, small forward.
“At the top, really two guys that we’ll go after hard right away and try to make a big play for that we think are not only good players but really fit with the way we want to play,” Van Gundy said Saturday.
The Pistons have been linked to Orlando Magic forward Tobias Harris, a restricted free agent, who is one of the more prototypical young small forwards available. There are many other options for Van Gundy and the Pistons in the free agent market, and he touched on his strategy of pursuit:
“There’s a real advantage in doing the unrestricted first,” he said. “The problem is if you go the other way, the unrestricted guys will virtually certainly be gone, so that’s a huge part of it in terms of strategy. We think there’s a couple of very good unrestricted guys out there that fit what we want and I think we’ll take first shot at them. But also while exploring what’s going on with some of the restricted guys. We think we’ve got some pretty good veteran options if we get beyond those first couple of guys.”
DeMarre Carroll (unrestricted), Thaddeus Young (unrestricted), Danny Green (unrestricted), and Khris Middleton (restricted) could all be potential targets for the Pistons. With Greg Monroe expected to be on his way out, Van Gundy would be losing one of his better offensive players. Acquiring a stretch-big like Ilysova might suggest there will be a downsizing as opposed to the two-big set the Pistons have had with Monroe and Andre Drummond.
The Pistons may elect to follow suit with the majority of the league and go with a smaller, faster framework, but in assuming that Monroe is indeed gone, they would ideally want the most talented prospect possible. If not, Van Gundy is fine with the alternative:
“What it really does is give you a comfort level that if you don’t hit on those first couple of guys – which, obviously, there’s great competition for – that you can pursue a short-term veteran option and count on (Johnson), say in his third year, of being ready to handle the load. It does give you a comfort level as you go down that those Plan B, Plan C guys are not bad plans.”
We’ll see how Johnson can develop positionally with the Pistons long term, and we’ll see more of Van Gundy’s re-modeling goals in the coming weeks.
