Van Gundy: Pistons to prioritize landing small forward in free agency

The Detroit Pistons appear to have a pretty clear plan going into free agency, which will officially begin on July 1.

Pistons head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy plans to put a whole bunch of his eggs in one basket, and go all out in pursuit of a shiny new swingman, he told Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:

When the clock strikes midnight on July 1, Stan Van Gundy's first course of action will be to call Reggie Jackson. Minutes later, he'll place two calls to candidates to fill the last remaining open starting berth in the Pistons 2015-16 lineup, small forward.

"At the top, really two guys that we'll go after hard right away and try to make a big play for that we think are not only good players but really fit with the way we want to play," Van Gundy said Saturday.

There will indeed be several solid small forwards available this summer, both on the unrestricted and restricted free-agent markets, though the competition is certain to be steep. Van Gundy says he plans to pitch unrestricted guys first, and chase an RFA as a fallback should he whiff on his two top choices.

"There’s a real advantage in doing the unrestricted first," he said. "The problem is if you go the other way, the unrestricted guys will virtually certainly be gone, so that's a huge part of it in terms of strategy. We think there's a couple of very good unrestricted guys out there that fit what we want and I think we'll take first shot at them. But also while exploring what’s going on with some of the restricted guys. We think we've got some pretty good veteran options if we get beyond those first couple of guys."

What's perhaps most notable about those purported plans is that there's no mention of Pistons power forward and impending UFA Greg Monroe, whose future with the club is looking increasingly dubious.

With power forward Ersan Ilyasova coming over via trade earlier this month, the Pistons are clearly prioritizing the three-spot as a greater area of need. They've already been tied to Orlando Magic swingman Tobias Harris - a restricted free agent said to be hunting a max contract. Other potential free-agent targets at the position include Khris Middleton (restricted), DeMarre Carrol, and Danny Green (both unrestricted).

One might wonder - given the eagerness with which he appears to be approaching the small forward market - why Van Gundy swung for a similar player, in Stanley Johnson, with the No. 8 pick in Thursday's NBA Draft.

Van Gundy explains that Johnson represents less of an immediate solution than he does long-term insurance.

"What it really does is give you a comfort level that if you don’t hit on those first couple of guys - which, obviously, there's great competition for - that you can pursue a short-term veteran option and count on (Johnson), say in his third year, of being ready to handle the load. It does give you a comfort level as you go down that those Plan B, Plan C guys are not bad plans."