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There has been a lot of excitement around these parts the last couple of days (maybe you've noticed) as the hiring of Stan Van Gundy has invigorated the Detroit Pistons fans community. A side effect of that is that Van Gundy doesn't make Pistons fans excited, he's well-respected throughout the league and many fans and pundits are praising the move and the direction the Pistons are now headed.
With so many people interested in the Van Gundy story, I chatted with The Lottery Mafia's Nick Denning about the hiring of Van Gundy and what it means for the Pistons. Here's an excerpt:
Does the current roster fit SVG's style of play?
The current roster is most definitely not suited for the four-out, one-in style of play. The team as a whole was dreadful from the perimeter last season and its second-best player Greg Monroe does not have a perimeter shot, preferring to work for buckets inside. The good news is that there is enough flexibility built into the roster so that Van Gundy can shape it to how he sees fit. He has his franchise building block in Andre Drummond, a decent amount of cap room this offseason, he has Greg Monroe as a restricted free agent who he can either re-sign or flip in a sign-and-trade for pieces that he wants and he has only one truly albatross contract in Josh Smith who is coming off of his worst season. If the team moves Monroe for perimeter pieces then Smith is the power forward you probably live with or if the team keeps Monroe they can probably flip him to a team that needs to boost its defense with an athletic power forward and can get him for 20 cents on the dollar.
But I'd caution against an immediate assumption that SVG will definitely surround Drummond with four perimeter threats just because that's what he did in Orlando. Because it's certainly not what he did while with the Miami Heat. I think there is just as much likelihood that he'd build a system around his existing talent as there is that he'd try and replicate his success in Orlando with Drummond as his Dwight Howard clone.