Detroit Pistons: Still reason for optimism despite missing playoffs

The Detroit Pistons will miss the playoffs for the second straight season after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers last night. This season was a disappointment for a variety of reasons, but there is still reason to be optimistic about this team next season.

The Detroit Pistons will miss the playoffs for the second straight season. It will also be the second time in as many seasons that the team’s key cog, Reggie Jackson went down for a substantial portion of the season, leaving his overall durability in question.

Moreover, the Pistons will go into the offseason with less than a three percent change of retaining its first round pick.

There is a lot of reason to be disappointed about the team’s outlook moving forward, particularly with the team’s performance relative to reasonable expectations.

But there are a lot more reasons to be optimistic.

While all of the above is true, there are other truths to consider.

The Pistons, for example, looked stellar in the few games the team had with all of its star pieces in place.

The Pistons also saw sizable growth from its young players in Stanley Johnson and Luke Kennard. In fact, both could reasonably perform as above average starters as soon as next year. The future for both may be even brighter.

What’s more, the Pistons best player, Andre Drummond, took giants leaps forward in almost every aspect of his game.

In fact, it’s not unreasonable to expect Drummond to develop a jump shot, as soon as next season.

How much of a difference would that skill add to Drummond’s game, and how would that impact the performance of the team as a whole?

While the Pistons are not financially positioned to look substantially different next season from a personal perspective, the team may indeed look substantially different from a performance perspective, thanks in part the the reasonable growth from key players like Drummond, Johnson, and Kennard, plus the addition of a healthy Reggie Jackson.

Next: Analyzing the Detroit Pistons capabilities financially

Pistons fans should be disappointing by the way in which this season turned out. However, they should also be optimistic about the potential success for next season.