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Eight predictions for the Detroit Pistons’ season in 2016-17

By Duncan Smith

Apr 5, 2016; Miami, FL, USA;Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy during the first half of Tuesday nights game against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Robert Duyos-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2016; Miami, FL, USA;Detroit Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy during the first half of Tuesday nights game against the Miami Heat at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Robert Duyos-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 1, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Marcus Morris (13) high fives forward Tobias Harris (34) during the first quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 1, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Marcus Morris (13) high fives forward Tobias Harris (34) during the first quarter at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /

The Detroit Pistons are a 50 win team.

You heard it here first, the Detroit Pistons are a 50 win team. To project for this, we need to scrap everything that happened last season before the Tobias Harris trade took place, and he was inserted into the starting lineup on February 22nd.

The Pistons were 27-29 when Harris was moved into the starting lineup in place of the injured Tolliver. From that point forward they went 17-9, which is a winning percentage of 65.4 percent. That’s 53 win pace over 82 games.

The Detroit Pistons were injury-stricken over that span. KCP was hurt on February 3rd against the Boston Celtics and missed the next four games. Stanley Johnson also suffered a shoulder sprain and missed seven straight games between February 24th and March 9th.

He probably came back too soon as he struggled mightily upon his return, scoring just 5.1 points per game and shooting 29.3 percent from the floor and 25.7 percent from three-point range. He was even benched for two of the Pistons’ final four games before getting things together in time for the playoffs.

Nobody played particularly well over that stretch, and the Pistons had a bench led by Steve Blake.

Things are different at the Palace now. The bench has almost entirely turned over. They have better shooters, they have a capable backup point guard in Ish Smith. They have a full season ahead with Tobias Harris. Stanley Johnson is a year older, smarter and more developed.

KCP is in a contract year and will either be playing to get paid or will already have gotten paid life-changing money and won’t have to think about such things ever again. Either way, he’s a favorite to have a career year.

While the Celtics got better and the Cavs are still world-beaters, the Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls took sizable steps back in the East. The Pistons are better on paper than the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers, and are the clear-cut second best team in the Central Division, and my pick for the fourth seed in the East.

Next: Win totals for the Detroit Pistons and the rest of the NBA

For all these reasons, your Detroit Pistons are a 50 win team in 2016-17.

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