Detroit Pistons' Troy Weaver admits mistakes, maintains 'absolutely, I’m the right guy'
LOS ANGELES — In the midst of a franchise-worst start, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores promised change in late December.
Six weeks later, the team has an almost entirely new roster.
Troy Weaver has been busy, swinging multiple trades to reshape a roster that was previously on pace to make history for the wrong reasons. January’s trade for Mike Muscala and Danilo Gallinari added needed shooting to a team that’s improved after a 2-29 start, winning five of their last 12 games. And the deadline moves this week exchanged Detroit’s veterans for 3-and-D wings and second-round picks.
The Pistons, after defeating the Sacramento Kings on the road Wednesday, rallied from a 23-point third-quarter deficit on Thursday for their second win in a row. The team hopes that adding Simone Fontecchio and Quentin Grimes will provide long-term support as 3-and-D wings, as well as help Detroit continue its momentum this season.
There’s still plenty of work to be done, though, as the Pistons still own the NBA’s worst record in Year 4 of Weaver’s “restoring.” The general manager addressed the media on Friday morning, a day after the trade deadline passed. He reflected on Detroit’s disappointing season thus far, the team’s deadline priorities and why he remains confident in his ability to make the Pistons a winning franchise once again.
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Pistons high on Fontecchio, Grimes
The Pistons traded two skilled veteran shooters in Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks. With Fontecchio and Grimes, the hope is that they recoup much of what they lost from their veteran duo while also getting younger and stronger defensively.
Fontecchio, a 28-year-old 6-foot-7 wing, is shooting 39.1% from 3 this season. Grimes is a career 37.9% shooter still a season away from entering restricted free agency. They compliment Detroit’s young core, which has flourished since the team added Muscala and the since-released Gallinari.
“Grimes is a 3-and-D guy,” Weaver said. "(Houston coach) Kelvin Sampson, I spoke with him about (Marcus Sasser) and he said his two hardest workers were Sasser and Quentin Grimes. We’re excited about adding Grimes. He fits the profile that we need. Doesn’t need the ball to hit shots and he defends at a high level. Great teammate. We expect him to step into a role to help support the young core. And he’s young, so he’ll continue to be part of that group. And for him to continue to grow as well. Excited to add him to the group. He was a target for us.
“This guy has made huge, huge strides from his first year in the NBA to this season,” Weaver continued, about Fontecchio. “Versatile, his shooting, toughness, the vigor he plays with. We’re excited about what he adds. A young veteran even though it’s his second year in the NBA. He’s 28. He has a maturity about him that we like and that we’ll miss with Bogdanovic that he’ll bring. A great team guy. Shoots the ball. Very high-level complimentary player. We’re excited about adding him to the group as well.”
Hayes’ poor shooting a factor in his release
The seventh overall pick in 2020 — the first of Weaver’s tenure as general manager — officially parted ways with the franchise that drafted him on Thursday when the Pistons released point guard Killian Hayes to get under the 15-player roster limit. Hayes started 31 games this season, but his inefficiency (shooting 38.2% overall and 27.7% from 3 for his career) limited his effectiveness and made him a poor fit alongside Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey.
Weaver was frank when discussing why the Pistons requested waivers on Hayes rather than carry him into the offseason, when he was set to become a restricted free agent if Detroit picked up his qualifying offer.
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“He has size, a versatile defender, playmaker with the ball,” Weaver said. “It didn’t work because of his shooting. He never got his shooting. The guy can really defend, we’ve seen his playmaking ability, but if you’re a guard in the NBA you have to make shots. The further away you are from the basket, the more skilled you have to be. The closer to the basket, the less skilled you can be. If you’re a guard, you have to make shots.
“I’ve talked to Killian ad nauseam about that, improving his shooting. That’s ultimately why he wasn’t as successful a player he needed to be. He has all the attributes for a good player, but when you’re a guard, shooting is paramount and the other guys are stepping up, as we’ve seen. Sass, the shooting is there, it’s coming. You look at the demise of any guard in the NBA propelling themself to be a really good player, you have to improve your shooting.”
Weaver names poor defense, injuries in factor behind bad start
Six weeks ago, the Pistons were mired in an NBA record-tying 28-game losing streak. They are still 29th in defensive rating of 120.3, largely because of their inability to stop dribble penetration and protect the rim.
Detroit got off to a hot defensive start, holding their first three opponents below 103 points per game. The team has been battered injuries, even before the season began as Bogdanovic missed all of October and November and Monte Morris appeared in just six games before being traded Wednesday. Burks has also missed time.
The problems go deeper, but Weaver named poor defense and injuries as the primary factors.
“We just haven't been a cohesive unit, and it starts with our defense,” he said. “Our defense started off well, and then it just took a nosedive. A lot of it is the younger core being in and out with injuries, and the veterans being out of the lineup. It is what it is, I don’t want to keep belaboring the point. We know Bogdanovic pretty much missed the first 20 games, and Morris missed probably the first 40 games. And our defense didn’t hold up. We just haven’t been a cohesive unit and it’s important that, as we go through this, we gain some cohesion and momentum as we try to forge forward.”
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Weaver reaffirms he’s the right GM for the job
There’s plenty of evidence to doubt that Weaver isn’t the person who will turn the Pistons around. The team has yet to win more than 23 games in a season since he was hired during the 2020 offseason. This season, expected to be a leap forward, has overall been a disaster.
Gores put pressure on his GM in December, noting that Weaver knows change is needed to turn things around. Weaver defended his credentials on Friday, pointing to Detroit’s recent improvement as a testament to his long-term plan.
“Absolutely, I’m the right guy,” he said. “I sat here in June 2020 and said we’re going to restore the Pistons, and that’s what we’re going to do. We have a plan in place, a young core that’s showing that they’re growing and have a chance to be special players. It’s on us to continue to fortify that group. We have things in place, our core is in place. Have a coach in place to lead us. Absolutely, excited about the future. Like I said, we’ll own what’s behind us. But more importantly, we’re excited about what’s ahead of us.
“If you watch the last two nights, you should feel good about what’s ahead of us and the young core and the guys we really needed. We’ll continue to fortify this group. Like I said from Day 1, I’m unwavered. I’m on assignment to restore the Pistons and that absolutely will happen. It’s taken a little longer. Like I said, we’re in rough waters. But that’s only going to make us stronger. And we’re looking forward to brighter days and that will happen soon enough. The fans have been tremendous, and they want a winner on the floor no more than we do. We’ll make sure that we’ll turn over every stone and work our tails off to put a team out there on the floor that they can be proud of and continue to come to the LCA to support us.”
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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons' Troy Weaver defiant: 'Absolutely, I'm the right guy'
