Rod Beard on Reggie B & $$

[Sparma]

Beard: "Bullock is on the final year of his contract that’s paying him a salary-cap-friendly $2.5 million. He could command five times that when he becomes an unrestricted free agent — free to sign with the Pistons or any other team — in the summer."

[Sparma]

BallinD: "Sparma: There’s a new Sherriff in town and he has maybe broken the rambunctious, erratic horse that was/is Weggie.  I approve this message!"

Yes!

The weird thing with Reggie -- talented as he is -- is that coach's first job is to prevent him from derailing the team's offensive plan.

Next, the coach can try to figure out how to get this talented guy to contribute.

Option 1: Let Reggie do his thing.

No!  Not a possibility for a coach this side of SVG UNLESS the plan is to let Reggie be Reggie on the second unit.  We haven't gone there quite yet

Option 2: Have Reggie play off the ball, focusing on shooting.  Problem: Reggie's below the league average from 3, although he's close enough that it may be a worthwhile strategy to let him hoist them up.

How to accomplish option 2.  a) Anoint Blake as PF, b) Anoint Blake as PF and slowly integrate an alternative ball handling option.

Option 3: A hybrid.  Use the strategies in option 2, but let Reggie be Reggie at times.  How to pull this off?  a) Praise him to the high heavens (Casey: he's one of the reasons I agreed to join the team as coach), b) make excuses for him aimed at steering him in the right directions (Casey, a day or two ago (!?!): Reggie's recovering from injury and learning again to play at the NBA pace (ignoring the fact that Reggie, even to SVG's annoyance, always favored playing at the pace that allowed him to be ball dominant on O, while taking it easy on D.)

I don't know.  Looks like Casey's managing some kind of magic with Reggie, if last night's brilliant performance is any indication.  He does so through a combination of praise -- drawing out Reggie better basketball self -- and coercion -- unapologetically having a 37 yo minimum wage guy take over two games in a row at Reggie time.  

I've got my questions about Casey's (offensive) creativity, but a lot of coaching consists how well you get along with/ handle people (as Stan discovered to his chagrin).  

Casey's been earning a lot of respect from me in that area, not least in how he's worked with Reggie.  We likely would need to include a pick to offload Reggie; he's got more value staying with us if a negative trade is the alternative.  Casey's done a nice job of facing up to that reality, and being adept in dealing with it.

[Oracle]

Without making it to the trade deadline, we're speculating on making a choice between Reggie Bullock, and Stanley Johnson, which is ridiculous at this point. Bullock is an essential component of our starting unit, who's underpaid and at the peak of his powers at age 27! Johnson is monstrous coming off Detroit's bench at 22, and being drafted in the first round doesn't make him a bust by any means; he just can't be trusted, now, in a starting lineup by a team that holds championship aspirations. We need them both and we've thrown the baby out with the bath water too many times in the past, i.e. Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Khris Middleton, to name a few.

Damn right DX!!! While anybody on this team could be traded, any talk of moving Stanley or Bullock is a non-starter for me right now. In fact, this team is just finding itself and hopefully its identity. I'm not in favor of moving anybody except Galloway, Leuer(and even he's been playing good and smart under Casey), GR3, or Ellenson(hopefully he gets a shot elsewhere).

Oracle that was a great 3 by Dre in overtime. But for me it was the tip in at the end of regulation that AD got to tie the game. I have been critical of AD because he has never demonstrated the ability to be a winning type of player. Now making that tip in in the last second should give our center all the confidence he needs to become an outstanding player. In the previous game, AD made several blocks in key situations as well. This year has been big for Andre Drummond so far. Way to go!

Don I totally agree, that put back in traffic was a man sized move, and he focused to make sure it wasn't too rushed to eliminate a mistake. Big time offensive rebound and put back!!!
The thing that impressed me about the 3 was that he actually looked like a shooter. He went back, turned around, saw he wasn't in 3 point territory, knew the clock(3 seconds), then stepped back to clear 3 point land and released a shot that looked like Paul George or somebody... amazing!

[cool breeze]

Without making it to the trade deadline, we're speculating on making a choice between Reggie Bullock, and Stanley Johnson, which is ridiculous at this point. Bullock is an essential component of our starting unit, who's underpaid and at the peak of his powers at age 27! Johnson is monstrous coming off Detroit's bench at 22, and being drafted in the first round doesn't make him a bust by any means; he just can't be trusted, now, in a starting lineup by a team that holds championship aspirations. We need them both and we've thrown the baby out with the bath water too many times in the past, i.e. Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Khris Middleton, to name a few. I really don't give a damn if Tom Gores has to pay the luxury tax for a year, he's only paying for the luxury of saddling the franchise and fans with Stan Van Gundy, for 4 mediocre years. During those years of futility he came up with the bright idea of applying the Stretch Provision to Josh Smith, rather than trading him, overpaying Smith, Galloway, Leuer, and not getting zilch for Monroe or KCP. Sign and keep Bullock and Johnson. Your high profile brain trust, Mr. Gores, should be able to rid the team of Leuer, Galloway, Ellenson, and Robinson III by the trade deadline and the marching orders for the remaining players should be, "JUST WIN!"

This trade talk with Philly has moved past "being out of hand" and gone straight to insulting! The first round draft pick mentioned is going the wrong way, and some of our most dependable players for a player who has a 33 game career, can't shoot or guarantee a healthy return for our sacrifices, is insulting to me. If we're going to dream, what about Rui Hachimura, from Gonzaga, our possible answer for a young starting SF in the first round. For all that don't know, give the kid a good look. Anyway, Tom Gores, said he'd pay whatever was necessary to put a winner on the floor when SVG was in charge, so do the same for Big Ed Stefanski, bite the bullet for a year if that's what it takes to keep your word and a winner on the floor...decent and fair contracts for Bullock and Johnson, no trade!

Great, gritty, win from the Stones...everybody gave their best and played with some surprisingly great intelligence.

dX good post. What a mistake it would be to make a trade for Fultz. Philly needs to dump his contract. Fultz can't beat out TJ McConnell for good reason. TJ is not a great athlete but he is smart as hell and that is something Fultz lacks. Fultz had a really good agent who fooled the draft experts. By this time, every GM should be wise enough to never agree to take on his contract and for sure not give up any young players with potential. Perhaps in 3 years Fultz can make a rotation based on his ability. But that is a big if. But I am wondering if Piston management is actually going to do the trade and give Philly Stanley Johnson, Smith, and a first round pick. You can never trust the owner or his front office to make a smart trade or know when to not make a trade. If this happens, where will Brown fit in with the Pistons? Fultz has the big contract. Under Casey, contracts matter. Playing the big contracts makes life simple for the head coach. Keep the owner and front office happy. And how much power do agents have in this process of nonsense? Is the NBA a rigged organization where at this point in time, the Pistons have been selected to be the Farm team doomed to remain in hell. Maybe this is a long time coming being the NBA Front office is still pissed off about the Bad Boy era. They were not supposed to win but did it anyway even with the officials trying their best to stop Zeke's team from winning it all. The Pistons actually won three championships with Zeke's team. It was only a bogus call that prevented the Pistons from winning their first championship against the Lakers the year before the back to back Kick Ass Years.

Oracle that was a great 3 by Dre in overtime. But for me it was the tip in at the end of regulation that AD got to tie the game. I have been critical of AD because he has never demonstrated the ability to be a winning type of player. Now making that tip in in the last second should give our center all the confidence he needs to become an outstanding player. In the previous game, AD made several blocks in key situations as well. This year has been big for Andre Drummond so far. Way to go!

Blake Griffin played so much smarter in this game and he played feeling sick before the game. I loved the charge he took against Towns which was a critical play in overtime. I thought Blake was fouled earlier when he got the defensive rebound that should have sealed the game.

Reggie Jackson had his best game since his first season with the Pistons. I loved that a look he made after draining the 3 point shot when nobody came out to guard him. I think he stood there for about 4 seconds before taking the shot. The other Reggie, Mr. Bullock gave up a lot of dribble penetration but made up for it with his clutch shooting from distance. Great game for both players. Reggie B is on a hot streak shooting the ball. I hope it lasts.

My only complaint was coaching strategy in this game. Dwayne had his favorite player, Langston Galloway in for too many ineffective minutes. The Pistons couldn't get a stop but somehow made some great shots to stay in the game. With one minute to go in regulation there was a timeout with the Pistons coming out of the break on defense. It was amazing to see Casey stick with Jackson, Galloway and Bullock at that moment. None of the three players could guard Rose. Jackson and Bullock had been big contributors on offense but Galloway was offering very little on either end. I cannot think of one other coach who would not have substituted defense for offense at that moment. Either Bring in Brown or Johnson who are the two best defenders on the team. Doesn't Casey know that yet??? Two Minnesota players were killing the Pistons throughout the game. The Pistons needed a stop. Then on the following defensive stand with about 30 seconds left another timeout was called and again Casey played his Son Langston Galloway on defense. Is there something that I am missing. Galloway has not been able to stop dribble penetration all season long. He is not a good defender. It wasn't until the overtime period with 2 minutes to go that Casey finally brought in Brown to stabilize the defense for the Pistons and it worked. Maybe Casey might offer the Pistons a more fun type atmosphere but something sure is missing with this coach. I believe the Pistons would have won at least 6 more games this season with better game adjustments. Most of those loses involved Galloway playing too many ineffective minutes. Did the head coach forget how Johnson had previously shut down high scoring hot players in previous games? When has Langston Galloway done that? Is this a Mother-Son relationship?

[Oracle]

Are you effing kidding me??? Drummond with a turn around triple in OT???

Man, I hate it when I get too busy to catch the games and the Pistons lay down a classic like this. You could see this coming, all of the close losses can do in a team, but credit Casey, these guys have a lot of heart that wasn't evident under SVG, even with Blake in there.

They fight and claw, and that level of character will eventually pay off. Sure they need one more Big Dog, Reggie J hasn't been his old dominant self, but he does appear to be regaining his form. I know the general desire is to trade him, but I wouldn't do it now and, IMO, I don't think we could get squat anyway.

On the other hand Reggie B is kicking arse and taking names. For those who said they he could take KCP's place, no problem... well, he may not be as good defensively, but he looks better overall if he can stay healthy.

Keep Stanley? Damn straight, all he needed was a coach that REALLY believed in him to get his game going. Suddenly Casey's confidence in his guys to shoot that three ball isn't looking so crazy anymore.

Kennard is struggling more with his confidence and less with his shot. The glare of starting appears to be a bit much for the youngster, but I hope Casey doesn't get reactionary and pull him. He's going to need a good period of adjustment, be patient and he'll come around. 

Rant: It takes basketball IQ to understand basketball IO! That IQ comes from experience. Kids with good coaching learn it early, and a lot of the guys here never got good enough coaching to make basketball IQ second nature to them. These close games are the fires that forge the steel that teaches players how to close out games and add that to their IQ for future reference. The old saying is true, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger... they're getting there, and tonight was a prime example of that learning process. Better late than never, IMO!

Bonus:

[deusXango]

Without making it to the trade deadline, we're speculating on making a choice between Reggie Bullock, and Stanley Johnson, which is ridiculous at this point. Bullock is an essential component of our starting unit, who's underpaid and at the peak of his powers at age 27! Johnson is monstrous coming off Detroit's bench at 22, and being drafted in the first round doesn't make him a bust by any means; he just can't be trusted, now, in a starting lineup by a team that holds championship aspirations. We need them both and we've thrown the baby out with the bath water too many times in the past, i.e. Tobias Harris, Marcus Morris, Spencer Dinwiddie, and Khris Middleton, to name a few. I really don't give a damn if Tom Gores has to pay the luxury tax for a year, he's only paying for the luxury of saddling the franchise and fans with Stan Van Gundy, for 4 mediocre years. During those years of futility he came up with the bright idea of applying the Stretch Provision to Josh Smith, rather than trading him, overpaying Smith, Galloway, Leuer, and not getting zilch for Monroe or KCP. Sign and keep Bullock and Johnson. Your high profile brain trust, Mr. Gores, should be able to rid the team of Leuer, Galloway, Ellenson, and Robinson III by the trade deadline and the marching orders for the remaining players should be, "JUST WIN!"

This trade talk with Philly has moved past "being out of hand" and gone straight to insulting! The first round draft pick mentioned is going the wrong way, and some of our most dependable players for a player who has a 33 game career, can't shoot or guarantee a healthy return for our sacrifices, is insulting to me. If we're going to dream, what about Rui Hachimura, from Gonzaga, our possible answer for a young starting SF in the first round. For all that don't know, give the kid a good look. Anyway, Tom Gores, said he'd pay whatever was necessary to put a winner on the floor when SVG was in charge, so do the same for Big Ed Stefanski, bite the bullet for a year if that's what it takes to keep your word and a winner on the floor...decent and fair contracts for Bullock and Johnson, no trade!

Great, gritty, win from the Stones...everybody gave their best and played with some surprisingly great intelligence.

[BallinD]

Sparma: There’s a new Sherriff in town and he has maybe broken the rambunctious, erratic horse that was/is Weggie. I approve this message!

[Sparma]

Crazy stuff passed along by liberty ballers.

Screw Liberty Ballers, thats the most lopsided, stupid trade Ive heard all season, unless they are throwing simmons in as the cherry on top, though I’ll take kurkmsz or Shamet too, LOL

btw, I saw Reggie J and Houston's Brandon Knight mentioned in the same sentence, in a discussion of Detroit's wish to move on from Reggie J. [no need to if he could consistently play like tonight, but....]

[BallinD]

Screw Liberty Ballers, thats the most lopsided, stupid trade Ive heard all season, unless they are throwing simmons in as the cherry on top, though I’ll take kurkmsz or Shamet too, LOL

[Sparma]

Yes, Tolliver with the airball 3 coming off the bench at the end.

Surely he's primed for a third stint in Detroit now. What would it take? Don't imagine they'd have much use for Ish. Possibly Ellenson & a salary matcher? Glenn Robinson?

What a great win.  Deeeeetroit Basketball my boys Bullock, Blake n Dre put the hammer down, Weggie too. Luke, not so much, but we’ll take it.

Can we trade for Tolliver now, and call it a day.

[Sparma]

libertyballers (must be a Philly outfit) passes along an idea floated by the Ringer: Bullock, Stanley Jackson, Khyri Thomas, and a top 10 protected 2019 1st rounder for Fultz.

?????

[BallinD]

What a great win. Deeeeetroit Basketball my boys Bullock, Blake n Dre put the hammer down, Weggie too. Luke, not so much, but we’ll take it.

Can we trade for Tolliver now, and call it a day.

[Sparma]

Looked like the TWolves were thoroughly outplaying the Pistons deep into the game, but monster comeback.

Dre with the miracle 3.

Reggie J really important in the win. Blake huge, evidently battling sickness. Reggie B again broke this career best, this time with 33, and 7-12 from 3 (!!). The way he's starting to play, if he leaves it will be a big story. He's really piling on pressure for the team to make a big bid to keep him.

Murph, if Bullock does leave, I expect Khyri Thomas to fill part of the distant shooting gap (more so than Stanley J). And Kennard, as you say.

Rose out there proving that you really can improve your shooting. Apart from FTs, he shooting way better now than in his MVP season (saw that he's now the NBA's best shooter beyond 8 ft.). He looked lethal for a lot of the game, but had some big misses late, thank goodness.

[cool breeze]

WOW... Decisions... Decisions....

You got Reggie Bullock balling out of control. And the NBA is built for player like Bullock. 3 and D wings who can really shoot the basketball. Bullock will get 10 million from somebody next summer.


I wonder what this new management group will decide to do. I know this, If you trade away your best shooter for scraps, Blake will not be happy.


Van Gundy continues to F.U.C.K the Pistons from his couch.


Hey Gores. CRACK OPEN THAT CHECK BOOK MR Platinum investments man....

Phil...great post.  Right on all points.


Don...here is a link to our salary structure on Hoopshype.  It clearly has Stanley Johnson marked down for a $5.3 million qualifying offer for next season, so he will be back.

https://hoopshype.com/salaries/detroit_pistons/


Sparma...I didn't realize that Bullock's contract was for 2 years for $5 million.  Yes, he will be due a huge pay increase next year, one we likely cannot afford.  

IMO, we really need to package Bullock and Ish off to a contender for young players and/or draft picks.  I don't think we can afford to bring either back next season.  Kennard and dare I say SJ will have to step up and provide shooting next season.

Murph thanks for providing that link. That makes my day to know Johnson will return unless Piston management decides to trade him. If Detroit can keep Johnson, Kennard, Brown and allow them to play together with all the ups and downs young players have, our Pistons can make the Motor City proud because all three players are capable defenders and have high basketball IQs. I would like to hope that Thomas will also be part of the long term future as well but he will have to crack the rotation.
Your advise relating to trading both Bullock and Smith is also a wise thing to do. I like the 2nd unit with Calderon. If Jose suffers an injury, Brown and Kennard can handle point guard duties.

[Murph]

WOW... Decisions... Decisions....

You got Reggie Bullock balling out of control. And the NBA is built for player like Bullock. 3 and D wings who can really shoot the basketball. Bullock will get 10 million from somebody next summer.


I wonder what this new management group will decide to do. I know this, If you trade away your best shooter for scraps, Blake will not be happy.


Van Gundy continues to F.U.C.K the Pistons from his couch.


Hey Gores. CRACK OPEN THAT CHECK BOOK MR Platinum investments man....

Phil...great post.  Right on all points.


Don...here is a link to our salary structure on Hoopshype.  It clearly has Stanley Johnson marked down for a $5.3 million qualifying offer for next season, so he will be back.

https://hoopshype.com/salaries/detroit_pistons/


Sparma...I didn't realize that Bullock's contract was for 2 years for $5 million.  Yes, he will be due a huge pay increase next year, one we likely cannot afford.  

IMO, we really need to package Bullock and Ish off to a contender for young players and/or draft picks.  I don't think we can afford to bring either back next season.  Kennard and dare I say SJ will have to step up and provide shooting next season.

[Sparma]

I'll back away from the trade cliff some in the face of BallinD's sensible comments.

If Bullock's playing great, as he has been recently, it will be really tough to trade him if we retain remote playoff prospects. Then, it would be simpler to let him walk away if we can't pony up. But as Philip says, if ever there was a time to crack open the safe and go over the luxury line (people will understand that the Josh S axe, so many year ago, put you in a tough spot, won't they; does that one go to SVG or still to Gores?).

Beard included (at least at times) the playoff contention caveat when discussing a Bullock trade.

That said, we've already seen that isn't a firm line. My take is that the Bullock & Ish & 2nd idea was a real thing, a Piston proposal that was entertained by Philly but eventually turned down due to their own mixed assessment on Fultz and the insistence by some in their organization on getting a high 1st back. As intriguing as Fultz may be as a prospect, can we agree that he doesn't help with the playoff picture this year, at least not nearly as much as Bullock and Ish.

If so, we've got a playoff contention caveat going with Bullock, minus a caveat to the caveat that if a trade possibility is intriguing enough to the Fultz level (i.e. interesting w/o blowing you away), then we go for it.

As with all of us, later pain tends to be easier to face in the imagination than current pain. That is, if Bullock walks away in the summer and we get nothing (sorry folks, we so mismanaged our funds that we need to let our best shooter walk away, but this lets us keep Stanley), that's easier to face than we need to trade our best shooter now but we get a second rounder back. It looked like Philly might be offering a middle way (look at this guy perceived to be a great prospect not along ago), but it sounds like that's choices.

Choices indeed. And it's been a long time since I felt I could count on the franchise to make the optimal choice. Too pessimistic with the new regime?

And, yes, I agree that Ish could go because Calderon's shown enough, playoff contention or not.

Can't see them trading Bullock, the team's best shooter, especially with the Blake Window and the Luke passivity and
acclimation project underway.  That would be giving up on the season unless we get a really good wing back.Austin Rivers and Jabari Parker could be interesting role players, but Parker is allergic to Defense and Austin Rivers may be more of a head case than Weggie, and yes that's possible.

Stuck between a rock and that hard place

I could see an Ish trade, because he is somewhat expendable due to Calderone's successful bobbing and weaving with old man time.  Boy, I wonder where we would be if we had never let him go, with his heady play and feel for the game.  Unless Luke attacks his passivity on a consistent basis, or Gallows plays his way toward a trade, we may be sunk.

Casey is showing he needs an offensive coordinator (where is Nick Nurse?) cause he is looking like SVG 2.0 in his simplistic offensive schemes and stubborness about using Weggie off the ball so much.  I get that he doesn't trust him, and neither do I but he's not a spot-up shooter,  and Blake needs playmaking help that Weggie cannot be trusted to provide.  There's that damn rock again.  And team chemistry issues could begin to surface if we continue to rip off long losing streaks without any coaching adjustments to the core issue of Blake Point Forward, being smashed by aggressive defensive adjustments by opponents, much like last year when they sniffed out the Dre dribble hand offs after the first quarter of the season.

I would jettison Ish and Gallows if possible and keep Bullock and SJ, and keep our FRP as well.  Leuer might also be playing his way into a trade.  But despite the desparate need for a trade, it's not looking like Casey is quick enough on his feet (nimble minded) to take advantage of it, though he is getting a lot right, his offense sucks, as advertised.

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