Detroit Pistons: One thing to be worried about every Western Conference team

Young and Fun

I must admit that I am jealous of the next three teams. Detroit should probably be better than all three, but they all feature rosters stacked with exciting young talent, loads of draft picks and a bright future, things that are lacking in Detroit.

New Orleans Pelicans

After completely botching the Anthony Davis years, the Pelicans were rewarded with another No. 1 pick in a year when there was a generational talent available. The Pelicans traded Davis to the Lakers, but might actually be better without him, as they now have a team loaded with young players who were lottery picks. Of course they have a potential generational superstar in Zion Williamson but also top ten picks in Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Derrick Favors, Jahlil Okafor and Jaxson Hayes, but the Pistons’ biggest concern should be wiley veteran JJ Redick.

The sharpshooting heel out of Duke torched Detroit for 30 points on 6-of-15 from three last season in one of Detroit’s most exciting games. Luckily the Alpha Ginger Blake Griffin dropped 50 and Detroit won in overtime. Detroit can’t lose track of Redick or give him space or he’ll kill the Pistons running off screens where he doesn’t need much time to get off a shot. This will be a big challenge for Bruce Brown, who has to keep Redick in check. The Pelicans are a dark horse to make the playoffs and there are a lot of Lakers’ fans who would trade rosters with New Orleans right now.

Dallas Mavericks

Dallas is an up-and-coming team that features two of the top young players in the game in Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis. The Mavs took a big gamble on the Zinger, not only trading for him while he was injured but then signing him to a five-year max contract, making him a big part of the future of the team. Porzingis and Doncic present matchup problems for Detroit but they do for nearly every team, as they are giant “unicorns” and potential generational talents.

The guy who should worry Detroit most is Pistons’ fan favorite Seth Curry. The other Curry is coming off a season where he shot 45 percent from three and he figures to get even more looks with Porzingis and Doncic drawing double teams. Curry could end up being the X-factor for Dallas, a guy who can get hot and drop 30 on a given night. Dallas is hoping this is the year Curry breaks out and becomes their version of Redick.

Sacramento Kings

Even though the Kings did not make the playoffs last season, they were still one of the more exciting teams to watch and feature some of the game’s best young talent. After years of being one of the worst-run franchises in sports, the Kings have finally started to put it together and have an exciting core of Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III and De’Aaron Fox. Sacramento is young but are a trendy pick to make the playoffs this year, though that will be a tall task in the West.

Detroit’s biggest concern should be the guards Fox and Hield. Detroit’s frontcourt should dominate the Kings, who don’t have much in the way of big men, but the Pistons don’t match up well with the Kings’ guards. Hield dropped 30 points on Detroit last year and Fox came on in the latter half and started looking like one of the best point guard prospects in the league. Both can shoot and will be quicker than Detroit’s guards, who are a older, slower and in the case of Derrick Rose and Reggie Jackson, not very good defenders. Brown should be able to slow down one of these guys, but who is going to stop the other? The Kings guards will keep Dwane Casey and a lot of other coaches up at night.