Detroit Pistons: What we learned from the year of 2018

The Detroit Pistons have went through a lot of change in their organization during 2018. What’s next for this team?

It’s been an interesting 2018 for the Detroit Pistons. Can it be disappointing, yet promising at the same exact time?

What did we learn from the Pistons this year? I think one of the biggest things we learned is that this organization seems to have a new pulse.

The Pistons were just 76-88 over their last two seasons. It seemed like Detroit was just running in place and doing the same things that weren’t working.

So, what happened?

The moving parts of the previous front office managed to work a deal that brought Blake Griffin to Detroit. The Detroit Pistons haven’t had a star of Griffin’s caliber in a very long time. You’d have to go back over a decade to when Chauncey Billups was playing point guard.

Then, after another season below .500, they moved on from Stan Van Gundy.

Jeff Bower was also relieved of his duties.

I believe the best part of 2018 was bringing in Dwane Casey who has a very recent track record of success and player development.

Ed Stefanski and Malik Rose were both brought in to run the front office.

They actually made strides to change who they were as an organization which is something that was desperately needed.

The new front office did what they could with limited resources. They managed to swing two draft picks in the back end after going into draft night without a first-round pick.

Bruce Brown is already proving to be a valuable young talent as a rookie. Khyri Thomas has yet to see the court much in his first season but has a background of great success.

Both were believed to be first-round talent by some draft analysts.

On a small budget, they brought him some veteran players that all have been contributors this season. None have stood out by any means but nonetheless have played key roles.

The other thing we learned from the Detroit Pistons in 2018 is that they still have a long way to go before they’re contending for anything serious.

A lot of that has to do with their current salary cap situation. The Pistons have almost $75 million tied up between Griffin, Reggie Jackson, and Andre Drummond.

That’s nearly 75 percent for their salary cap. With other contracts on their team, the Pistons fall just short of the luxury tax line.

With that little of flexibility, it’s very hard to improve a roster with free agent signings. It’s also very difficult to swing a trade that wouldn’t put them over the luxury tax line.

With as much money as they’re paying for the personnel they currently have, the return value just isn’t as high.

Getting a guy like Blake Griffin helps but him and Drummond are just not surrounded by the right pieces right now.

Reggie Jackson has drastically underachieved as the third piece to this main core. Injuries have played a major role in his regression over the last couple of seasons.

He’s struggled taking a lesser role to Griffin.

However, the Detroit Pistons are in the playoff conversation right now and a number of players are on expiring deals. Getting back into the postseason in Casey’s first season feels like a victory by itself.

It will be interesting to see what the front office can manage to do with what they have going forward. It’s very much an uncertain future for the Detroit Pistons.