The 2018 NBA Manifesto
Langston Galloway
PG/SG - 6’2, 200lbs - 26 years old - 4 years of experience
In accordance with a troubling decade-long Pistons tendency to give role players big contracts and then not get as much value from them as the financial commitment necessitated, the Pistons brought Galloway in this season on a $21 million contract, and then barely played him.
As Reggie Jackson went down, they instead turned to Ish Smith (expectedly) and Dwight Buycks (unexpectedly) at point guard. As the shooting guards struggled to make an impact, the Pistons turned to Luke Kennard; this makes sense given that he was the team’s 2017 first-round pick, but given that he and Galloway do the same sort of things at the same positions, it only further begs the questions as to why Galloway was brought in. Does backup Luke Kennard really need his own backup?
When at his best and playing regularly, Galloway is a combo-guard, a term hereby used to mean a man who is not really either type of guard. His point guard turns are occasional and still involve him trying to score; his shooting guard turns involve him gunning up threes off the catch and the dribble, along with some pull-up twos, not dribbling against pressure or turning it over, and never ever ever ever ever ever ever getting to the rim. Defensively, he has fluctuated between good and bad from season to season; let’s say he is enthusiastic, but in need of a mentor.
When not at his best and not playing, though, Galloway is a sporadic bench player whose contract introduces the threat of the luxury tax to a lottery team. The Galloway signing was thus a strange one - Detroit needed shooters on the court, yes, but they then need to play them. If they are unplayable, perhaps they shouldn’t be signed.
Player Plan: Two years and $14,333,333 remaining, no options. This contract represents a problem - he is not playing up to it, probably wouldn’t even if given the minutes to do so, and yet represents a decent chunk of the cap at a time when the cap is dangerously clogged. It might be in attach-asset-to-dump territory, which would be a shame, but new brain trusts have much more cachet to dump incumbent contracts than former ones do to correct their own decisions.
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PG/SG - 6’2, 200lbs - 26 years old - 4 years of experience
In accordance with a troubling decade-long Pistons tendency to give role players big contracts and then not get as much value from them as the financial commitment necessitated, the Pistons brought Galloway in this season on a $21 million contract, and then barely played him.
As Reggie Jackson went down, they instead turned to Ish Smith (expectedly) and Dwight Buycks (unexpectedly) at point guard. As the shooting guards struggled to make an impact, the Pistons turned to Luke Kennard; this makes sense given that he was the team’s 2017 first-round pick, but given that he and Galloway do the same sort of things at the same positions, it only further begs the questions as to why Galloway was brought in. Does backup Luke Kennard really need his own backup?
When at his best and playing regularly, Galloway is a combo-guard, a term hereby used to mean a man who is not really either type of guard. His point guard turns are occasional and still involve him trying to score; his shooting guard turns involve him gunning up threes off the catch and the dribble, along with some pull-up twos, not dribbling against pressure or turning it over, and never ever ever ever ever ever ever getting to the rim. Defensively, he has fluctuated between good and bad from season to season; let’s say he is enthusiastic, but in need of a mentor.
When not at his best and not playing, though, Galloway is a sporadic bench player whose contract introduces the threat of the luxury tax to a lottery team. The Galloway signing was thus a strange one - Detroit needed shooters on the court, yes, but they then need to play them. If they are unplayable, perhaps they shouldn’t be signed.
Player Plan: Two years and $14,333,333 remaining, no options. This contract represents a problem - he is not playing up to it, probably wouldn’t even if given the minutes to do so, and yet represents a decent chunk of the cap at a time when the cap is dangerously clogged. It might be in attach-asset-to-dump territory, which would be a shame, but new brain trusts have much more cachet to dump incumbent contracts than former ones do to correct their own decisions.