FanPost

True Shooting Percentage and Stan Van Gundy's free agent selection process

Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

Stan Van Gundy has made a few minor moves this offseason and as many DBBers will point out, he was trying to hit singles instead of swinging for the fences. After combing through the Hollinger stats available through ESPN insider I was able to discover what I feel may be a connection amongst the recent free agent signings of the Pistons as well as current members of the roster who could see larger, developing roles.

The theory that most Pistons fans believe is the direction of the front office is to build the future of the team around the centerpiece that is Andre Drummond similar to how the Magic were built with Dwight Howard when they reached the Finals. As we know and have seen from the offseason targets and what we know about Van Gundy's past coaching experience is that he values the ability to shoot. Not only does he value shooting but he values high efficiency shooting from all spots on the floor, which he should. To find players with this particular skillset I decided to take a look at each players True Shooting Percentage and where they rank position wise in the NBA. For those of you unfamiliar, True Shooting Percentage is the shooting percentage of a player if free throws were included as well as the increase value of a three point shot.

Point Guards:

The current point guards on the roster are Brandon Jennings, Will Bynum, Spencer Dinwiddie, and D.J. Augustin.

Jennings: With a TS% of .486 Jennings finished tied for 56th of 70 eligible point guards.

Bynum: With a TS% of .502 Bynum finished 48th of 70 eligible point guards.

Dinwiddie: As Dinwiddie is a rookie and was injured for most of the 2013 college season there isn't enough info to gauge his translation to the NBA at this point although I am hopeful.

Augustin: With a TS% of .569 Augustin finished 11th of 70 eligible point guards.

Shooting Guards:

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jodie Meeks are the Pistons only true shooting guards although Singler, Martin, and Butler could see time at this position during the season.

KCP: With a TS% of .483 KCP finished 62nd of 66 eligible shooting guards.

Meeks: With a TS% of .601 Meeks finished 5th of 66 eligible shooting guards.

Small Forwards:

Because of the awkward lineups and Dumars' terrible choices that cost his job, Josh Smith is rated as a SF since this is where he spent the majority of his time last season. Hopefully I can forget this ever happened. Along with Smith, Kyle Singler, Luigi Datome, Caron Butler, and Cartier Martin are currently members of the roster.

Smith: With a TS% of .463 Josh Smith finished 60th of 65 eligible small forwards.

Singler: With a TS% of .574 Singler finished 10th of 65 eligible small forwards.

Datome: As Gigi saw very few minutes last season he was not eligible for this statistic on ESPN.

Butler: With a TS% of .512 Butler finished 47th of 65 eligible small forwards.

Martin: With a TS% of .562 Martin finished 15th of 65 eligible small forwards.

Power Forwards:

Since Josh Smith is included with the SFs, the PFs on the roster are the hopefully re-signed Greg Monroe, Jonas Jerebko, and Tony Mitchell.

Monroe: With a TS% of .531 Monroe finished 44th of 75 eligible power forwards.

Jerebko: With a TS% of .577 Jerebko finished tied for 15th of 75 eligible power forwards.

Mitchell: As Mitchell played only 79 minutes the entirety of last season he is ineligible for this statistic.

Center:

Andre Drummond is the unquestioned face of the franchise and the only future superstar on the Pistons roster. The success of the team will heavily depend on his development and surrounding him with the shooters necessary to make shots once he has developed into a low post force offensively. With that being said Drummond is already very effective around the rim. Oh yeah, Aaron Gray is on the roster too.

Drummond: With a TS% of .599 Andre finished 10th of 61 eligible centers.

Gray: Gray played very limited minutes last season and is ineligible for this stat as well but most view him as a punching bag for Dre and Greg in practice and six hard fouls off the bench.

Conclusion:

Of the 5 players SVG has signed in free agency this season: 3 have finished with a TS% ranking in the top 15 at their respective positions. This includes: Cartier Martin, DJ Augustin, and Jodie Meeks. Butler and Gray do not share this accolade but they also have very different roles and will help improve the other players in the lockerroom and at practice.

Of the Pistons who were on the roster prior to the signing of SVG, Jerebko, Singler, and Drummond all finished among the top 15 at their positions. I expect Jerebko to be the FBOTB if either Monroe or Josh Smith is traded in the near future and I expect Singler to compete for the starting role at Small Forward. Drummond will hopefully phase into a focal point of the offense soon.

I strongly believe Stan Van Gundy is using the numbers provided by TS% to make front office decisions and place players around Dre who are accountable and take smart shots.

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