Detroit Pistons: Why this losing season is different, even enjoyable

The Detroit Pistons appear to be slated for the lottery once again this season. Unlike season’s past, this time there is reason to be excited about it.

I am certain I do not need to make you aware of the fact that the  Detroit Pistons have done a lot of losing over the last decade.

From the 2010/2011 season to the 2019/2020 season, the Pistons have amassed a rather lackluster 326-462 record. Over this 10-season stretch, the Pistons have reached the playoffs two times and have yet to win a playoff game since 2008. Ouch.

While the main goal of every franchise is to win a championship, the  Detroit Pistons are very clearly a ways away from this being a realistic goal, so the Pistons must take pride in the smaller goals they can achieve on the path to reaching their ultimate goal of an NBA title down the road.

Losing for so long has been painful for everyone… fans, players, and the front office alike. However, losing this season feels different than in prior seasons and admittedly feels more fun! Throughout this article, we will be reviewing the reasons why this is the case.

The Detroit Pistons have finally reconstructed the roster

For years it seemed as if the Pistons were stuck in the mud. It felt as if every year we had hopes of making the playoffs just to fall just short and be the 7-10 pick in the draft.

This is the worst place an NBA franchise can be in. The Pistons were continuously not good enough to make the playoffs, however not bad enough to get a top pick that would yield a franchise-changing player.

Sure, other teams have drafted stars in the range the Pistons were drafting, but that takes an awful lot of luck that apparently the Pistons have just not had.

The formula that the Pistons had been following for years clearly was not working and so something needed to change. Troy Weaver brought upon that change the Pistons needed. Weaver wasted no time completely gutting and rebuilding the roster. Honestly, it may not be a stretch to say that more moves were made in the first few days of Weaver’s first offseason than the Pistons made in the past decade altogether.

The longest-tenured Piston is currently Blake Griffin whom the Pistons acquired way back in 2018. Even that is subject to change as I would imagine ideally, the Pistons would like to offload Griffin to push the Pistons even further into their rebuild. It’s very refreshing to have so many new faces in a Pistons uniform to root for this season.