The Utah Jazz have improved to a title-contending threat. The Detroit Pistons hope to prove they are up for the task. Here’s how they stack up in 2019-20.
In many ways the Utah Jazz are where the Detroit Pistons want to be. They have a young superstar and defensive anchor to build around, they have complimentary role players, they’ve consistently made the playoffs without attracting a big free agent and they are right in the middle of the conversation in the loaded Western Conference.
The Jazz have managed to climb out of the perpetual 8-10 seed with savvy drafting, player development and choosing the right role players to hold down the bench. Detroit hopes to make this same leap in 2019-20, while the Jazz want to vault from the 5 seed to the Western Conference elite. Detroit may be a stage behind Utah, but they are both trending in the right direction.
Detroit must wonder how their respective fates might look if they had chosen Donovan Mitchell instead of Luke Kennard in the 2017 draft. Would Detroit now be the five seed looking to win the Eastern Conference? Detroit and Utah will always be linked as long as Mitchell and Kennard are in the league and Detroit fans will always wonder what could have been (until Kennard blows up this year).
The Pistons got a healthy dose of Mitchell in two losses to the Jazz last season. Both games were in January and Mitchell scored 26 points in the first meeting and 28 in the second. The Pistons were able to hold Rudy Gobert in check in the first matchup, but the Stifle Tower exploded for 18 points and 25 rebounds in the second meeting.
Gobert went on to lead the French team to a big win against the USA in the FIBA World Cup and is poised to have another huge season alongside fringe MVP candidate Mitchell.
Detroit tweaked their roster, doing admirably to solidify weaknesses and add more depth, while Utah quietly added a group of players that have turned them into contenders.