Optimism is high among the Detroit Pistons fan base but we take a look at why the projected win total is understandably low.
If at the start of last year’s NBA season you told me that Blake Griffin would play over 70 games, have a career year, Andre Drummond would lead the league in rebounds, and the Pistons signed a player on the buyout market, then I’d expect that the Pistons to win their first round matchup or at least make it respectable.
Obviously, that didn’t happen as the Milwaukee Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo dismantled the Pistons and embarrassed the entire state of Michigan. The Pistons backed into the playoffs after squandering the sixth and seventh seeds away and nearly losing the eighth seed.
A career year from Griffin and the Pistons went 41-41 while he was absent in Games 1 and 2 of the playoffs, surely that was the writing on the wall for the organization, right?
After a sneakily good offseason where the Pistons traded a completely useless Jon Leuer for a three-and-D wing and a first round pick, that we further flipped into four second round picks, and added solid bench pieces in Markieff Morris and of course Derrick Rose, things were looking on the up and up.
Drafting prospects Sekou Doumbouya and Deividas Sirvydis will be like “little gifts in the future” as 97.1 the Ticket’s Mike Valenti said, and the Pistons could actually have a good thing going here in Motown.
I’d like to state this before the people in the comments (please let us know your thoughts though) and fanboys on Pistons Twitter go at me, but people are getting blinded in these dog days of no basketball, the Pistons could very easily miss the playoffs. I’m seeing people talking about the Pistons being a three seed and I’m just shaking my head.
Obviously, I’d love nothing more than us to change our driveway to 4 Championship Drive, but this isn’t the team to do it. I understand a lot of people will be angry that I’m even bringing up the fact we could have a bad season after our great offseason and health on the roster, but someone has to do it.
Here are the five reasons or situations where the Pistons could miss the playoffs.