| Detroit Free Press
It would be an understatement to say a lot has changed since the Detroit Pistons traded Andre Drummond to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Feb. 6.
Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic and the many challenges that have come with it, the Pistons are unrecognizable from the team Drummond left nearly 11 months ago.
Only four of Drummond’s former teammates — Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose, Svi Mykhailiuk and Sekou Doumbouya — remain on the roster. Drummond, who spent the first seven-and-a-half years of his career in Detroit, will make his return to Little Caesars Arena on Saturday, when the Pistons host the Cavaliers in their home opener without fans.
In nine games with Cleveland dating to last season, Drummond has averaged 17.1 points and 11.4 rebounds with an abysmal 3.8 turnovers per game. He has made 4 of 15 3-pointers — he made 11 in his Pistons career.
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The Pistons received little in return for Drummond. The two players they received, Brandon Knight and John Henson, are not in the NBA this season. The lone draft pick they got is a 2023 second-rounder — the less favorable of Cleveland’s or Golden State’s.
The biggest asset the Pistons gained from the trade is cap space, as Drummond had a player option worth $28.7 million, which he opted into in November. The trade allowed the Pistons to enter the offseason with around $30 million in cap space. And by proxy, enabled the Pistons to hire Troy Weaver as general manager.
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After firing Stan Van Gundy in 2018, owner Tom Gores hired Ed Stefanski as the Pistons’ senior adviser. Stefanski’s job initially was to lead a search for a GM, but the organization decided to stick with Stefanski as its lead decision maker until the franchise gained financial and asset flexibility.
Drummond’s departure, along with having a high lottery pick, created an ideal situation for a new GM to come in and immediately reshape the roster. Weaver was long regarded as one of the NBA’s best assistant GM’s during his decade-plus with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and was seen as a strong hire.
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The timing was right,” Gores said during Weaver’s introductory news conference in June. “If you look at it, Ed came on board to really get things organized and clean things up. We didn’t have a lot of cap room at the time when Ed came on. We felt like we really needed to clean things up when Ed came on. I think he did a good job.
“As we evaluated here over the summer and after end of the season, we talked about what we needed and we all felt like we needed to get that final piece — somebody who understands who’s out there on the ground. Every single player, every single possibility. And with a draft coming up, we really felt now we’ve worked ourselves into a place of opportunity and we needed to have the best team in place. Fortunately, we got Troy.”
The Drummond trade is the reason the current Pistons roster exists. It opened the cap space Weaver used to sign Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee, among other free agents. It signaled the end of Detroit’s playoff chase last year, leading to them unloading more of their veterans, losing more games, securing high lottery odds and drafting Killian Hayes seventh overall. It opened up minutes for Christian Wood, who broke out, became a coveted free agent and was sign-and-traded to the Houston Rockets in a larger deal that brought the No. 16 pick, Isaiah Stewart
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The trade ended an era for the Pistons. Drummond, the ninth overall pick of the 2012 NBA draft, carried high expectations after a promising season at UConn.
His athleticism and production turned him into Detroit’s franchise player. He made two All-Star appearances, an All-NBA third team and helped the Pistons make two playoff appearances, Yet, he wasn’t the dominant, franchise-altering player the Pistons hoped he would become. And though they tried, the Pistons failed to surround him with a roster that could cover for his weaknesses.
It could be years before it’s clear if what the Pistons build in Drummond’s wake is able to do what they couldn’t with Drummond — make an extended playoff run. The Pistons haven’t won a playoff game since 2008, losing an NBA record 14 straight in the postseason. They have a new young core in place, augmented by veterans who can help the young players develop. Rather than make win-now moves, this front office is playing the long game and betting the young players will develop into franchise pieces that will snap the playoff cold streak.
The Pistons didn’t have to trade Drummond. They could’ve brought him into this season as an expiring contract, or brought back the roster for one last playoff bid.
But the move was a clean slate. And its success, or failure, will be defined by what the Pistons have failed at during the past 12 years: They must develop a core that can contend for an NBA title.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa. Read more on the Detroit Pistons and sign up for our Pistons newsletter.