https://youtu.be/nY5B6nWO1aI
Jerami Grant, and Blake Griffin before him, were exciting acquisitions that provided the Pistons with a 20 PPG scorer who could (theoretically) drag the team out of the doldrums and return them to playoff relevancy. But the problem with those guys is that in no way could say that they were “bringing back old school Bad Boys basketball to Detroit”. Any player who shoots a lot of threes is automatically disqualified from being an honorary Bad Boy, and certainly any forward as ineffective at rebounding as Grant is should also be removed from the “Bad Boy” discussion. The other problem with those guys is that they couldn’t bring success to Detroit by themselves, but that’s not my concern right now.
On the other hand, drafting Isaiah Stewart was the perfect way to at least partially bring back old school Bad Boys basketball to Detroit. He’s got it all: muscular, intimidating, slightly undersized, full of hustle, no outside scoring game, likes to rebound. The Ben Wallace comparisons are there, except Stewart would have to add on about fifty more pounds of pure muscle to his already muscular frame before the comparison can be perfect. I’m not sure how much he likes to fight or how dirty he’s willing to get in order to help the team win, but those are teachable skills. All you have to do is promise $500,000 cash under the table every time he throws a punch that connects, and he’ll be swinging fists at anybody and everybody in the arena.
The problem with Bad Boys basketball is that it probably wouldn’t result in a championship in this era, even if executed perfectly. I also don’t know if that style of play would resonate with nowadays NBA fans. Certainly it doesn’t resonate with me all that much. Perhaps the only solution is to trade Stewart to the Bucks for Thon Maker. News flash, Pistons fans: Maker is exactly the guy you want on your team because he can shoot threes. The fact that you already traded for him once does not mean that you can’t trade for him again.