Pistons Pre-Season Press Conference

[Wombataholic]

Good morning and thank you for joining us.

Last season was a weird season for the Pistons. We had anticipated winning around 60 games and losing in the second round to whoever won the Central Division. Instead we took half the season to find our footing, won 48 games and made the finals. So somehow we managed to both over and underachieve in the same season. Oh, and Anthony Davis won another MVP.

Going into the offseason, our #1 goal was to re-sign James O'Connor. Mission accomplished.

Our #2 goal was to find a 5th starter, either in the draft or in free agency. We were open to finding anyone that we could plug in from the 1-4. We believe that Keitt, O'Connor and Davis can all play and guard multiple positions, so we had options when finding another starter and we found one when we brought back Brian Stark. We didn't get as much depth for the 2-4 spots as we had wanted, but we feel good about the starters and depth at the 5.

The draft went fairly well, we got Joseph Reading Rainbow at #18. Reading will be starting sooner than we had anticipated and may be a diamond in the rough. We also bought a few extra picks to get some depth. We think Chris Daniel and Chester Rusk could provide some decent depth for us, and Michael Manis is a sniper that could see spot minutes. We also got someone in the second round whose name I never bothered to learn. He was told not to bother showing up at Pistons headquarters.

We were relatively blessed in training camp, in that no important players died. Just Brian Coleman, who, as it can be inferred, is not important.

It appears that our starting lineup this year will be nearly identical to last year, with Reading Rainbow probably starting in place of Woodson at the 5. Rusk will back up Keitt, Keitt and O'Connor will back up Stark, Burr and Davis will back up O'Connor, Ferris and Woodson will back up Davis, and Woodson and Adams will back up Reading.

Anthony Davis will probably win the MVP again this year and we expect Keitt to be near the top of the league in assists.

This year we expect to win 55-60 games again, compete for the Central Division title and be in the conversation for teams that could win it all.

I'll open the floor to questions.

[JNR]

GWR: What do you think went wrong during the finals?

[Wombataholic]

The finals were more competitive than the 4-game sweep might have you believe. We lost 3 of those games by a total of 6 points. If we had made a shot at the end of any of those games, maybe things turn out differently. Probably not, but maybe.

[NOLa.]

What happened in the playoffs that got you on that run? Your team went in with no expectations but flew to the Finals before being swept.

[IamQuailman]

Was the pressure too much on AD that he cracked in the Finals and couldn't make a single game-winning bucket?

[Wombataholic]

What happened in the playoffs that got you on that run? Your team went in with no expectations but flew to the Finals before being swept.

We got some favorable matchups with the Knicks, and got some lucky breaks against the Bucks and Celtics.

The Celts were missing a key player in Jaylen Brown and still took us to 7. I believe that at full strength, we probably would have lost in 5. With the Bucks, we were able to steal game 1 on the road, and Brian Stark had 4 games where he played much better than a player of his caliber should have.

[Wombataholic]

Was the pressure too much on AD that he cracked in the Finals and couldn't make a single game-winning bucket?

AD had a sore back from carrying the rest of the team through the season.

[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pistons performance in the playoffs showed that the regular season play wasn't what this team is capable of. Did your team let off some gas knowing that with AD, any playoff seed is fine?

[Wombataholic]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: The Pistons performance in the playoffs showed that the regular season play wasn't what this team is capable of. Did your team let off some gas knowing that with AD, any playoff seed is fine?

It was a case of trying to figure out the team. We really had no idea what we had until around the middle of the season. Eventually we figured it out and we ended up making a run in the second half of the season.

[false9]

With Davis on the other side of 30 now, how long do you feel the window is for this group?

[Wombataholic]

With Davis on the other side of 30 now, how long do you feel the window is for this group?

Realistically, it's definitely open for the next 2 seasons. After that, it depends on whether AD wants to finish his career in Detroit and what our cap situation is like. When his contract expires, AD will be around 33 years old and will still deserve a supermax, which means either the Pistons will be heading to tax hell to keep the window open with the AD/Keitt/O'Connor core for a few more years, or we accept that we won't be able to keep all 3 and move at least one of them. Management has not decided which one it will be.

[ballsohard]

Compare yourself as a GM from the end of your first season which netted a championship (i think) compared to now. what knowledge or realizations have you become wiser to?

[logpmess]

What output are you looking for from your center position? Is it simply to defend and crash the boards, or do you expect some point output to relieve some of the burden from AD?

[WigNosy]

Which Steven will be more important to the team's success this season, Adams or Keitt?

[Wombataholic]

Compare yourself as a GM from the end of your first season which netted a championship (i think) compared to now. what knowledge or realizations have you become wiser to?

It was the second year. I think. I like to think that I've gotten better at evaluating prospects and free agents regarding how they fit into the goals and abilities of the team.

[Wombataholic]

What output are you looking for from your center position? Is it simply to defend and crash the boards, or do you expect some point output to relieve some of the burden from AD?

Ideally, I'd like to collectively get 12 points and 12 rebounds from the 5. But yes, mostly the 5 just needs to crash the board and defend. If we can get some scoring, that's great.

[Wombataholic]

Which Steven will be more important to the team's success this season, Adams or Keitt?

Keitt.

[digiskunk]

Last season didn't go as planned, as you had only won 48 games. Despite Anthony Davis winning MVP yet again, are there any chances that you'd consider trading Anthony Davis in an attempt to retool and/or rebuild for the future?

[Wombataholic]

Last season didn't go as planned, as you had only won 48 games. Despite Anthony Davis winning MVP yet again, are there any chances that you'd consider trading Anthony Davis in an attempt to retool and/or rebuild for the future?

It's a tough decision that we'll have to consider. On one hand, AD is a guaranteed trip to the playoffs. On the other hand, it's going to be tough to pay him a supermax in 2 years at the age of 31 and still pay Keitt and O'Connor when their contracts come up again without sending the team to luxury tax hell.

If we've learned anything from watching the Suns and Kevin Love over the last few years, it's that a player of that caliber is capable of carrying a team a long long way. We've also learned that no player is untradeable.