Detroit Pistons road to redemption step 2: Look for underappreciated talent
One positive the Pistons have had this past season was the emergence of Christian Wood. Wood who is still under-25 is one his fifth team in Detriot and he’s now showing himself to be a real force in the league. It may have been by accident but this is an important part of building a champion, finding talent that has been underappreciated elsewhere.
Let’s call this the Laimbeer-Wallace rule. In the past, Pistons greats like Laimbeer and Wallace were both undervalued assets that Detroit acquired and turned into key cogs on championship teams. Wood may fall into that category as well, but the team needs to continue this practice.
Being a successful general manager in the league is sometimes about being smarter than the other 29 guys doing your job. So in free agency, maybe take a chance by signing players like Josh Jackson or Denzel Valentine. Players that are still relatively young but have been given up on.
A playoff team might want Derrick Rose in their rotation, so instead of just acquiring matching salary and a pick maybe you mine a diamond in the rough from that organization.
Nearly every team in the league has a player with talent that isn’t getting the proper opportunity or development they need. It’s about finding that guy.