Meet Alec Burks
Who is Alec Burks?
Alec Burks is a 30-year-old, 6’6, 214 lbs guard hailng from Grandview Missouri. He stayed there for all his high school ball and was just a 3-star recruit coming out of high school.
After high-school he elected to attend Colorado for his college ball. Burks was an instant success in college, averaging 17 points per game as a freshman on his way to being rookie of the year for the Big 12.
In his sophomore season he truly broke out. Leading the Buffs with 20 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game for a Colorado team that somehow won 24 games and missed the tournament. Burks was named first team all Big 12 and following the season he declared for the NBA draft.
Burks was drafted 12th overall by the Jazz, where he would spend his first 7 seasons before being traded to Cleveland during his 8th. With Utah he had his moments but struggled to put together the whole puzzle while also suffering multiple injuries. After being traded from Utah his career would careen into him playing for 5 different teams in just 2 seasons, before settling into New York for the past two.
Burks arrives in Detroit with 2 years and $20.5 million left on his contract, the second season in a team option.
Offense:
This is where the goods are. Burks spent most of his career in the classic “Talented player who may not actually make you better” mold. He had an unquestionable ability as a slashing scorer, but he was not a good passer or shooter (in fact, largely a non-shooter from deep) and was subpar defensively. The major change, that may well have given him the current second wind he is currently experiencing, is that three years ago he showed up as a rock-solid three-point shooter and even became a borderline elite one in New York. Over the course of his career, a player who had taken well under a third of his shots from deep arrived for the Knicks and has taken nearly half of his shots from deep while hitting more than 40% of them. An excellent combination of volume and efficiency.
This shooting completely changes his value for an NBA team. Before his only real fit was as a 6th man who could lead bench units but wasn’t good enough as a major option when the chips were down while also lacking in other skills to play alongside the big boys when it counted. With his newfound shooting, he provides spacing and a clear-cut value to any offense.
With that said, it would be foolish to forget that despite all the injuries, now being 30 years old, and making fundamental changes to his game, Burks is still capable of being a dynamic scoring threat. He has size and athleticism to beat guys off the dribble to blitz the hoop and draw fouls. He doesn’t do much in the mid-range but that’s ok. He isn’t as explosive as he was earlier in his career, but he’s still a handful.
Burks still provides little in the way of passing, but regardless of what the lineup around him is, he should provide spacing and damage teams with pump-and drive moves who closeout too hard. Burks also brings value as a tertiary creator when the offense gets too glutted up.
Defense:
About what you would expect from a player in his mold. He has learned to put in the effort and focus required to avoid being an outright bad defender, his physical tools mean that he can masquerade as a wing-stopper but he isn’t really up for that challenge. At this point he falls into the role of being a veteran who does enough stuff right to keep your defense functional but will do little beyond that.
Intangibles:
Very little to say here. By sheer rarity of players who are 30 years or older, he provides a degree of value to the young Pistons. I wouldn’t really expect in the good or bad department here. The fact that he reinvented himself as a shooter does say something about his work effort.
Best Case Scenario:
Burks is a hit with the Pistons immediately as part of a surprising Pistons team that is hanging around the back-end of the playoff picture. He fills a great role of providing enough shot creation to keep Cunningham and Ivey from getting too overwhelmed in their responsibilities before he is eventually traded for a small return.
Worst Case Scenario:
He’s had enough injury issues that injuries are a real concern but I gave that as the worst case for Noel so we will get something else here.
The shooting dissipates, and he reverts to being overly trigger-happy as a slasher who doesn’t shoot or pass. We spend most of the season wishing he would stop taking shot attempts away from the young players. After the season the Pistons decline his option and he leaves.
Upshot for the rest of the roster.
My guess remains that Ivey is going to start with Burks coming off the bench. That said, Burks should give Casey a totally legit wing option to use either as a way to make sure that Ivey (and to a lesser extent Bey) earn their minutes or as a fill-in if Ivey seems overwhelmed early on and needs some time coming off of the bench. Part of me does wonder if he could end up encroaching on Saddiq Bey, who has started every game of his young career largely as a result of having no real competition. Burks has objectively been a better shooter over the last two seasons and brings off-the-bounce power that Bey has yet to show. My guess is Bey takes another step forward and it isn’t an issue, but if he starts off the season as bad as he did last season (and remember, Bey shot just 34% from deep last year!) I could very much see Casey using Burks as a way to truly challenge Bey for the first time in his career.
My own personal musing about Bey aside, Burks will be used primarily as a foil against Jaden Ivey. If Ivey plays well in training camp and hits the ground running when the games count then he will start and Burks’ role will be diminished to a bench scorer. If Ivey has issues then Burks will fill in until Ivey is ready. Regardless, Burks should be a refreshing sight as the first guard who is a plus shooter with real dribble-drive umph the Pistons have had since… the Reggie Jackson season where he spent a bunch of time off-ball next to Blake?
Verdict:
Much like Noel. I am thrilled with the move that brought him here and believe he has great value both as a player to help the Pistons be functional and also potential as a trade chip. In particular, his value as a bonafide wing option that can shoot AND dribble is very exciting. I am perhaps overplaying it, he isn’t going to carry the team or anything, but to be blunt the Pistons spent like 4 or 5 years trying desperately to find this version of Alec Burks and guys like him just make your offense work better. The lives of Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey should be much easier with Burks next to them. To the point, that part of me hopes they toss defense to the wind and start Burks at the 3 and Bey at the 4 just to maximize spacing.
What do you have against Saddiq Bey?
Nothing.
We’ve seen your twitter, that bit earlier isn’t the first time you’ve questioned him.
Wanting to see him actually compete with a viable NBA player for playing time isn’t questioning him. Bey regressed last season but still started every game, some competition should be good for him.
Hater.
Look, there are people suggesting that Saddiq Bey is on his way to a max contract. Seriously.
(I am not trying to single out these people for criticism here and this is not the only place I’ve seen it bandied about it was just the easiest one for me to find)
So with that in mind, let us just say I am somewhat thankful that people get the chance to see what the bar is for a guy who is making $ 10 million and still got salary dumped when it counted.
This is a lot of content for you
Go back a couple of years and this was normal. I want this to be normal again. I’m genuinely excited about the Pistons for the first time since Blake Griffin’s knees got ruined just before the playoffs.
Will there be podcast?
Yes. I actually recorded one the other night but realized I didn’t think through my thoughts very well and it sucked. There will be podcasts though.