How do the Detroit Pistons stack up in the East?

Toronto

They gave a huge deal to DeMarre Carroll to bring him over from the Hawks. He will help, although Patrick Patterson is still slotted to start at the four which doesn’t exactly fill me with confidence for them. They were good enough for fourth in the east last season and should have, in theory, improved with the signing of Carroll.

You know what you’re getting from the likes of Carroll, DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, but the wildcard that may take them to the next level is the development of Jonas Valanciunas.

He has increased his scoring in each season since his rookie year. He is entering year four and will be playing for a big extension at the end of it. He needs to provide enough presence inside, particularly if they plan on playing Carrol at the four for long stretches.

After starting the season strong, the Raptors were a sub 0.500 team after the all star break and then were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the lower seeded Washington Wizards. I get the feeling if they get off to a slow start General Manager, Masai Ujiri won’t hesitate to blow things up and make Kyle Lowry or DeMar DeRozan available. They might have the best chance of the teams listed to fall out of that playoff position.

Next: Conclusion