Are the Detroit Pistons under more pressure this season?

Moving into a new arena is a big step in any professional sports franchise, but for the Detroit Pistons this season it’s different after coming off a disappointing season.

After coming off a 2016-17 season that resembled a roller coaster that only goes up and down and it was apparent that the Detroit Pistons were in need something peculiar or different. Last season the Pistons were perhaps the most frustrating team in the NBA, and I’m not trying to be biased.

Every time it seemed like the Pistons were going to go on a streak the starting line up changed or someone got injured or got into a car wreck. The Pistons faced reality last season. On paper, they were a young skilled group of basketball players, but the problem was they didn’t seem to be in sync with each other.

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy did his homework last off-season and didn’t do too bad. SVG picked up three guys (Ish Smith, Jon Leuer, and Boban Marjanovic) that had their moments last season and are still on the roster. These three helped this team across the board last season, or as most Pistons, fans would say “half the season.” It was no secret that Jon Leuer had a great first half of the season but that all turned around when Van Gundy placed him in the starting lineup.

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For the Pistons the biggest bewilderment of last season was the knee tendonitis injury to starting point guard Reggie Jackson. Everyone knows how great he was in the 2015-16 season in the pick in roll with center Andre Drummond. This attack played a big part in getting the Pistons to the playoffs that season. Again, SVG did his homework and sat him the remaining nine games of the season to rest his knee because it was obvious the injury affected his game.

The question remains though did we have big expectations for the Pistons last season after Reggie Jackson hurt his knee? You could say yes but not with much assurance.

This offseason for the NBA overall has truly been one of the best offseasons witnessed in history with star players signing with other star players. As for the Pistons, it was more of a decisive offseason filled with excitement.

There was a lot of risks involved for the Pistons as they traded forward Marcus Morris, essentially let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk for nothing, and traded away Darrun Hilliard. As Thomas Jefferson once said, “With great risk comes great reward.” In essence that’s explicitly what happened for the Pistons this off-season.

The biggest act the Pistons performed this off-season was trading Marcus Morris to the Boston Celtics and receiving shooting guard Avery Bradley and a 2019 second-round pick. Two risks were conceived. One, the Pistons decided to renounce the rights to KCP making him an unrestricted free agent and two, Bradley only has one year left on his contract.

PistonPowered writer Braden Shackelford said,

"“In acquiring Bradley, the Pistons not only upgraded the shooting guard position (at least, temporarily), but they also traded Marcus Morris, which in turn, created an opportunity for Stanley Johnson to get significant playing time.”"

With the upgrades at the shooting guard position(Avery Bradley, Luke Kennard, Reggie Bullock and Langston Galloway), the work ethic and determination of Stanley Johnson and Andre Drummond. And most importantly the excitement of all the Detroit basketball fans with the move to Motown the pressure is on. It’s no secret that is Eastern Conference is weaker than ever before, so there are no excuses for this much improved Pistons team.

Shooting and scoring were two big things that the Pistons just couldn’t do last season and hopefully with the additions of veteran Anthony Tolliver and rookie Luke Kennard they can help with the cause.

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When the starting line up is announced by Mason for the first time at Little Caesars Arena, there is no doubt that the Detroit Pistons are under more pressure this season.