The NBA announced its All-Decade Team for the 2010s on Monday and Blake Griffin was the only Pistons player on the list; But who would make the list if it were all Pistons?
The last 10 years have been an adventure for the Detroit Pistons including playoff shortcomings and trips to the NBA lottery.
However, the offseason offers an opportunity to look back on some of the bright spots on the Pistons teams of recent memory.
The NBA announced its All-Decade Team of the 2010s on Monday. As expected, the list received a lot of buzz and criticism as most subjective lists do – especially during the offseason.
Pistons star Blake Griffin found himself named to the All-Decade Second Team – although more likely for his time with the Los Angeles Clippers than the Pistons seeing as how he only just arrived in Detroit.
Looking back on the last decade of Pistons basketball can be a difficult journey for any fan.
Detroit missed the playoffs six straight seasons to begin the decade before making it two of the last four.
That slump came after six consecutive trips to at least the Eastern Conference Finals and two NBA Finals appearances (and of course a championship) followed by a first-round exit in 2009.
Why the drop-off?
The rosters that followed the “Goin’ to Work” era in Detroit were laughable for a stretch – highlighted by the end of the careers of Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups. Not until the additions of Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, – and more recently Griffin – were the Pistons able to climb out of turmoil and become a playoff-caliber team entering the next decade.
We are going to take a look back at how the Pistons got to where they are now by looking at the last decade of current and former players.
The players considered in the Pistons All-Decade team are players that played with the Pistons at any point from the 2009-10 season through the 2018-19 season. They will be recognized for their work only in Detroit during that time with the franchise.