Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson are leading the Pistons to a good start this season.
The Detroit Pistons are quickly becoming the most fun professional sports team to watch in the Motor City.
The reason why is the play of two members of the roster: point guard Reggie Jackson and center Andre Drummond, who own the two highest win shares — a key statistic for measuring a player’s overall effectiveness — on the Pistons’ 2015-16 roster with 2.5 and 2.8 WS, respectively (as of the squad’s first 21 games, according to Basketball-Reference.com).
The 25-year-old Jackson, playing regularly in a starring role for the first time, is averaging a career-high 20 points per game and what would be a career-best assists per contest total for a full season with 6.6.
Jackson posted north of nine dimes a contest — 9.2 — in 27 games with Detroit last season.
He’s also recorded at least 20 points plus five dimes and one steal over the course of his last four games (dating back to November 30th against the Houston Rockets).
Based on player efficiency rating, the 2011 first-round draft pick of the Oklahoma City Thunder has been the second-best point guard in the Eastern Conference and the fifth-best overall floor general thus far with a PER of 22.73, according to ESPN.com (as of the morning of Dec. 7).
Yet, he’s not the best player on his own team.
The 6’3 Italian native is firmly entrenched as the “Robin” to Drummond’s “Batman.”
You won’t find many people in NBA circles who argue the validity of that statement.
It’s because Drummond is a nightly beast on the boards and the very definition of a double-double machine with an average of 18.5 points and 16.9 rebounds a night, including a double-double in 19 of Detroit’s first 21 games.
The 22-year-old University of Connecticut product is easily becoming the best center in the league with currently the second-highest PER among qualified centers.
His 24.75 PER only trails the Miami Heat’s Hassan Whiteside’s 25.34.
Yet, Drummond fares better than Whiteside all across the board statistically (rebounds per game plus offensive boards and defensive boards per night).
In fact, “Dre’” leads the NBA in rebounds per contest as well as in defensive and offensive boards grabbed each night (16.9 RPG, 11.3 DRPG and 5.6 ORPG).
Through the Pistons’ first 21 games, these numbers are good enough to make him the only NBA center who is averaging more than 20 rebounds — 23.3 — via the advanced stat known as “rebounds per 48 minutes,” which takes a player’s RPG total and adjusts it based on a 48-minute projection.
Thus, he’s a shoe-in to be an All-Star and is deserving of being selected by the fans as one of the starters for the Eastern Conference in the front court.
Most importantly though, he forms one half of the dynamic duo that should put Stan Van Gundy and the Pistons in contention for their first playoff appearance in seven seasons.
And maybe, just maybe, with the help of first-year Pistons Stanley Johnson and Marcus Morris as well as other supporting cast members, it won’t be the only thing Van Gundy and Co. are competing for in the future.