Pistons’ season projections leave faint reason for optimism

Good: Bradford Doolittle of Basketball Prospectus projects the Pistons will improve by 6.1 wins from their 82-game pace of last season.

Bad: Doolittle projects four other Eastern Conference teams will improve more.

• Nets: 18.8
• Raptors:10.8
• Cavaliers: 9.6
• Bobcats: 6.6
• Pistons: 6.1

Worse: Doolittle ranks the Pistons 11th in the East with 32.9 projected wins.

"The Pistons’ name still pops up in “who will lose the most games” polls, but there is upside to the Greg Monroe–Rodney Stuckey–Brandon Knight core. If rookie Andre Drummond can contribute in a positive fashion, Detroit could be one of the league’s more improved outfits."

Worst: ESPN’s summer forecast ranks the Pistons 13th in the East with 30 wins.