A year ago, Reggie Jackson‘s new contract was the big offseason expenditure for the Pistons, as the team locked up the point guard to a five-year, $80MM extension. This time around, Detroit locked up another core player – center Andre Drummond – and added a few complementary pieces to its roster. Outside of Drummond’s max contract, the moves may not have turned many heads around the NBA, but Jackson likes what the Pistons did, as Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes.
“I’m impressed,” Jackson said. “I feel like we’ve gotten overlooked because people don’t necessarily think we’ve made some ‘great’ – with the emphasis on the quotes – off-season moves. But I think, for our team, we had some great pickups.”
Although they weren’t massive spenders in free agency, the Pistons did award three- or four-year contracts to several free agents besides Drummond. Jon Leuer inked a four-year, $41MM pact; Boban Marjanovic got a three-year, $21MM offer sheet; and Ish Smith received a three-year, $18MM deal. The Pistons also added rookies Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije in the draft.
[RELATED: Pistons’ 2016 free agent signings, via our Free Agent Tracker]
None of those players is expected to be an All-Star anytime soon, but Jackson likes the depth the’ll provide, and tells Langlois he’s optimistic about the team’s chances for the upcoming season.
“I think people are looking for huge names and that’s not necessarily what Detroit’s ever done,” Jackson said. “We do it collectively. We don’t need anyone to believe in us. We’ll still find a way. But I think we shored up our second unit and added some more versatility and some more depth. I think we’ll be scary this year. But you know what? I don’t want to talk about it too much. We’ll let the season speak for itself.”