"I Did It for the Defense" - Chuck Daly's "Dumb" Trade or so They Thought
The late Chuck Daly was a Hall of Fame coach. He was the Head Coach of the original Dream Team that won the Gold Medal in the 1992 Olympics and guided the Detroit Piston "Bad Boys" to back to back NBA Championships.
When he took over the Pistons, they were not a very good team. Over the first couple of years he started to mold what has become one of the legendary NBA eras. Drafting Joe Dumars, he showed a unique eye as to how to fill the parts of his team that would fit together and create a winning team.
Daly was always a defense first coach. His teams defended with tenacity as they started to climb the NBA ladder. While their offensive production remained largely the same, defensively they got better and better, often ranking in the top 5 in most NBA defensive stats. However, they just couldn't get over the hump. They became a perennial playoff team, but not a championship contender. They did make it to the Finals, but got swept by the Lakers. After each playoff loss, he tweaked the roster, trying to find a move that would get them over the mountain.
Adrian Dantley, who was in the midst of his Hall-of-Fame career, was an integral part of their offense. Dantley was an 8-time All-Star and led the league in scoring twice. He was one of the élite players in the NBA.
Mark Aguirre was a great player at DePaul University, a 3 time All-America, one of the leading scorers in the country. He was a good NBA player. He was just under 6-7, very strong, good open shooter, averaged mid-double figures in scoring, but not in the class of Dantley. When the scheduled turned to February, the Pistons traded Dantley for Aguirre.
People were outraged. The Pistons were in the middle of another good year and how can they trade one of the premier players in the league for an average player. When asked, why did they make the trade, Daly said, "For defense." People were aghast. While Dantley wasn't a shut down defender, he scored enough to overcome his limitations. Aguirre was a middling scorer, too slow to defend on the perimeter and not big enough to defend in the lane. When pressed to explain his answer, Daly said, "You'll see."
Daly had sensed a weakness in his team. He feared they gave up too many points in transition. That is why they lost to the Lakers in the Finals the previous year and the Celtics the year before in the Conference playoffs.
After inserting Aguirre into the line up, the Pistons' defensive points allowed went down. Their points allowed in transition sunk like a stone. Teams were no longer able to run against the Pistons, which made their half court defense more effective. At the same time, all of their offensive statistics went up. How did that happen?
Mark Aguirre, Daly felt, had a unique skill. He was very adept at getting fouled. With Aguirre continually going to the foul line, their opponent's fast break opportunities shrunk to almost nothing. It is really tough to run against a team that is always shooting foul shots. Try it. Forcing teams to play half court offense allowed the Pistons' defense to control the games.
In addition, Aguirre did not demand the ball as much as Dantley did. That allowed Isaiah Thomas and Joe Dumars to get more shots. As a result, their offense got better as well.
After the trade, the Pistons went 30-4 and then won the first of the back-to-back championships.
Genius.
What I learned from this was to look beyond statistics and beyond tradition to solve my team's issues. What do you do to improve your team's defense? Slow the ball down, change defenses, or other traditional solutions? Or, do you look critically at the issue, find the cause and try to come up with another solution, which already be present. While, at most levels, you can't trade for a player that will solve a particular need, but maybe the answer is already on your team, just change a role, add a responsibility or take one away. The answer might be right in front of you.
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