SH Blog: Pistons Land Brandon Jennings

As July turns to August and the few remaining free agents scuttle to find homes for the 2013-’14 season, the Detroit Pistons have capitalized again.

Joe Dumars struck a favorable deal with one of the NBA’s top free-agents earlier this month, Josh Smith, when they signed the All-Star forward to a four-year, $54 million deal. While still a considerable contract in terms of dollars, they were able to land Smith for less than a max-deal when Smith had made it clear that he was entering free agency seeking just that.

Three weeks later, after all the smoke has cleared, Dumars struck again. This time coming to terms with Brandon Jennings, another talented player seeking a large deal, and signed him for a bargain: three-years, $24 million. More from Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski:

The Detroit Pistons have reached an agreement in principle to acquire Brandon Jennings in a sign-and-trade deal with the Milwaukee Bucks, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

The Pistons are finalizing a three-year, $24 million contract with Jennings, sources told Y! Sports. Detroit will send guard Brandon Knight, forward Khris Middleton and center Slava Kravtsov to the Bucks, sources said.

Jennings will likely never light the league on fire with All-NBA play, but he does have the potential to be a top-10 point guard, a position that has never been more coveted in the league. Last season, in a crowded backcourt on a team with no real direction, Jennings averaged 17.5 points and 6.5 assists while playing in 80 games for the Bucks.

There is no doubt Dumars upgraded the talent on the #Pistons. Now the question is how do all the pieces fit together.

— Dave Pemberton (@drpemberton) July 30, 2013

Like Smith, it is easy to point out the flaws a player like Jennings brings to Detroit. He’s a shoot-first point guard that shoots 39 percent (while his 6.5 assists are a career-high). His shot selection is questionable, in fact, frustrating at times. He’s certainly never been known for his defense or his leadership, and there’s been numerous rumblings of attitude problems during his time in Milwaukee.

But on the other hand, Jennings is only 23 and he’s never played in a stable or winning environment. Remember, he did not play NCAA basketball, likely missing out on an excellent opportunity to mature.

He’s gone through multiple coaching changes and has never had a system to grow in. His front office has never implemented a long-term strategy to put a successful team around him. Instead they made it a priority to annually compete for the 8th-seed in the Eastern Conference, so they paired him with another ball dominant guard (Monta Ellis).

Success in the NBA is all about context, and Jennings was given to the reigns to this type of franchise as a 19-year old rookie.

Is there any reason Jennings can’t turn things around in Detroit, a franchise with a championship pedigree, management committed to winning, a few highly skilled bigs and a veteran in Chauncey Billups that is known for mentoring young stars?

Absolutely not.

No longer will Jennings be asked to lead a team, a challenge he clearly — and fairly — was not ready for in Milwaukee. He has Smith and Billups on the court and Dumars and Maurice Cheeks on the sideline. He has young players such as Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to grow with.

He also has veterans in Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum to shave some of the workload off as the primary ball-handler if things get too heavy.

Think the #Pistons will really need Chauncey Billups’ leadership with this group and to lead he needs to be healthy.

— Dave Pemberton (@drpemberton) July 30, 2013

 

Remember #Pistons coach Maurice Cheeks has worked with Russell Westbrook last few years. Could bode well for his relationship with Jennings.

— Dave Pemberton (@drpemberton) July 30, 2013

He can put the pressure of performing up to a max-contract level behind him and focus on growing his game. Sure, he’s on a team-friendly contract, but he’s also making a comfortable $8 million per year and could have a big payday coming in 2017.

If there was ever a situation in the NBA for a player on the fringe to turn things around, this would be it for Jennings.

Can Detroit Contend in the East? 

The Smith signing alone jumped the Pistons into the playoff conversation. Barring a complete disaster, they should be a shoe-in now. 

Detroit will field a lineup of: Jennings, Pope, Kyle Singler, Smith and Monroe with Drummond, Billups, Stuckey, Charlie Villanueva and Bynum off the bench. Add in Peyton Siva and Tony Mitchell, two low-risk/high-reward rookies, and the Pistons have one of the deeper rosters in the NBA.

This not only makes things in the East interesting, but the Central Division alone. Indiana made the necessary tweaks to take their roster up a level and Chicago will get Derrick Rose back and added sharp-shooter Mike Dunleavy.

Cleveland hauled in Jarrett Jack, Andrew Bynum and Earl Clark, along with No. 1 overall pick Anthony Bennett. They’ll add that to a team expecting huge internal growth from their young, talented core of Kyrie Irving, Dion Waiters, Tristan Thompson, Tyler Zeller and Anderson Varejao.

Throw the Pistons into the mix and you likely have half of your Eastern Conference playoff teams right there.

With Miami, Indy, Chicago, Brooklyn and New York being virtual locks, that leaves four spots for the Pistons, Cavs, Wizards (also improved), Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors to battle over the remaining three spots.

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Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.