Should the Detroit Pistons start to rebuild? The next ten games will tell
With the Detroit Pistons off to a slow start to begin the season, are we approaching rebuilding territory?
The Detroit Pistons are sitting at a disappointing 4-8 after losing three games in a row. The “we should tank” crowd feels they’ve seen enough already to justify trading Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and anyone else to start over. Even anti-tankers like myself are starting to question the makeup and ceiling of this current roster.
The Pistons gambled on players who have rich injury histories and thus far it hasn’t paid off. Griffin has played one game. Derrick Rose has missed considerable time and Reggie Jackson will miss another three weeks at the very least. We’ve not seen the potential of this team at full strength, but with the myriad injuries the Pistons face, that may never happen.
It’s also fair to question just how good this roster really is, even at full strength, as Pistons’ role players have not impressed and so far, have not been up to the task of playing heavy minutes in Griffin, Rose and Jackson’s absence.
The Pistons are certainly not out of it at 4-8, there is plenty of season left and a three-game winning streak would likely put them right back into the mix in the mediocre Eastern Conference. But from another perspective, there are only 6 teams in the NBA (3 in the East and 3 in the West) with worse records than Detroit, so an argument could be made that now is finally the time to trade the few assets they have, add some depth and future picks and move on from an era that hasn’t seen a playoff win.
Like the Pistons, fans like myself are also at a crossroads, as we don’t want to endure a lost season, more losing and a lengthy rebuild, but also look at the top teams around the NBA and know Detroit isn’t close, even at full strength. I’m not ready to say the Pistons should blow it up and start over, but it’s getting close.
We should know more after the next 10 games on the schedule, which will be more than 25 percent of the season and plenty of evidence about where this team is going and what it could be.