AUBURN HILLS - Stan Van Gundy believes his Detroit Pistons can be more aggressive at both ends of the floor. They need to be, to return to the playoffs.

The Pistons open training camp Tuesday with several off-season acquisitions and a few returning players who need to rebound.

Their goal is to be tougher defensively and quicker and more aggressively offensively.

"I think there's a lot of reasons for optimism," Van Gundy said Monday, during media day at The Palace.

The Pistons will hold camp at their practice facility in Auburn Hills before opening the preseason Oct. 4 at Little Caesars Arena, their new home, against Charlotte. The Hornets are also the opposition for their season opener on Oct. 18 at LCA.

"There's an excitement moving back downtown and playing in a new, state-of-the art place," Van Gundy said. "But I'm more excited about the people we have on the roster."

Van Gundy wanted to add three things in the off-season - tough, competitive players, better 3-point shooters and more ball-handlers. They accomplished that goal by acquiring guards Avery Bradley and Langston Galloway and forwards Anthony Tolliver and Eric Moreland, in addition to drafting guard Luke Kennard.

"Avery is truly one of the best perimeter defenders in this league," Van Gundy said. "In Avery, Langston Galloway and Anthony Tolliver, we brought in three guys who all averaged a couple of made threes per 36 minutes, shooting at a 39 percent rate. There's less than 40 of those guys in this league and we got three of them in same off-season. And then we got Luke Kennard (widely considered the best shooter in the draft).

"And then we wanted to add more guys who could make plays as secondary ball-handlers, so the entire weight of our offense was not on our point guards. With Avery, Langston as a two-position guy, Luke's ability to handle and pass, we did that on the perimeter. And one of the things we really liked about Eric Moreland in addition to his defense and his energy is he's an outstanding passer for a big."

The Pistons also need improvement from within. Van Gundy is optimistic that younger players have made strides. They especially need Stanley Johnson to bounce back after a disappointing second season.

"I see a real maturity in Stanley; his mindset is different, he's really ready to go this year and he'll play a big role," Van Gundy said. "Henry Ellenson has made great strides. He's much stronger. I think he will push very hard to get significant minutes."

Tobias Harris, their leading scorer last season, is only 25, a player Van Gundy said can "become a go-to guy."

Van Gundy added that "It will be very hard to keep Luke off the floor."

"I think our young guys provide a good future and will help us in the present," he said.

Most importantly, the Pistons need big man Andre Drummond and point guard Reggie Jackson to play like they did in 2015-16, when the team finished 44-38, its best record since 2007-08.

Jackson was limited to 52 games last season due to tendinitis in his knee. He will be limited in camp and Van Gundy said it might take a while to get him back to full speed.

"We know what he's capable of and what he did two years ago," Van Gundy said.

Drummond's disappointing season made him a focal point of trade rumors.

"Andre has been a fixture here," Van Gundy said. "All he's got to do basically is get locked in. He's got his breathing corrected (surgery for a deviated septum), which I think will help him. He's focused on his conditioning. When he plays with great energy, everything else takes care of itself. If he does that he's going to have a great year."

Van Gundy called 7-foot-3 Boban Marjanovic "sort of a wild card."

"It's incumbent on us to find the best way to use him, but Boban Marjanovic can be one of the most indefensible offensive forces in the game in the time he's on the floor," Van Gundy said. "When you watched the European championships (for Serbia), where he's playing big NBA guys in (Kristaps) Porzingis and (Timofey) Mozgov, he's a tough guy to guard and we got to take advantage of that."

Van Gundy spoke to the team identity he envisions.

"On the defensive end, I think we got the makings of a team that can be very good," he said. "We got a lot of guys who are smart and tough. I think we got a couple guys with capability of being big-time defenders. Avery's been a first-team defensive guy, Stanley has capability of rising to that level or close to it. I expect Andre to make another jump defensively. He's big, he's got quick feet. We want to give him the freedom to be a little more aggressive defensively and take advantage of his quickness.

"On the offensive end, I we want to be an attacking, moving, quick decision-making team. We're not going to be a team that's relying on one guy. We got a lot of guys capable of getting 20 points on any given night, but we're not a team that's going to come in and ride one guy night in and night out. We want better movement. We want the ball to be shared. We got some guys like Reggie, Avery, Tobias, Andre, who can really score the ball. We got more people who can shoot the ball."