Detroit Pistons: Preseason injuries setting the Pistons back

The Detroit Pistons preseason has not gone to plan so far.

We’ve yet to get our first look at number one pick Cade Cunningham, whose ankle injury has kept him sidelined and is starting to be more of a concern.

Now Killian Hayes has been ruled out for game three against the Knicks with an apparent concussion. I have no idea how this happened but Hayes is going to have to miss another game after making his debut in the blowout loss to Memphis.

Both Saddiq Bey and Hamidou Diallo are listed as day-to-day and will be game time decisions, as will veteran Rodney McGruder.

Hopefully the Detroit Pistons are just being extra cautious with these guys, but if not, the team could start the season in a big hole that is going to be hard to climb out of.

Detroit Pistons: Injuries and the schedule

One thing is for certain: The Pistons’ schedule is not going to wait for them to get healthy.

All of these injuries are frustrating from a fans’ perspective, as we spent months talking about Cade Cunningham and the Pistons’ young core only to be told we’d have to wait even longer to see them play with each other.

But the real danger is that the Pistons’ schedule has some really tough stretches, starting with the first nine games of the season, which are pretty much all against the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

It was quite possible that the Pistons were going to start 2-7 or worse even if they were at full strength but if any of their starters have to miss significant time, the Pistons could be looking a hole they will spend the entire season trying to dig their way out of.

This is not to mention the fact that the team has barely played together and has a lot of new faces that are going to take some time to adjust.

Even if you are one of the fans who doesn’t think the Pistons are ready to compete for a playoff spot, this is still very disappointing after spending all of last year watching the team lose.

Let’s hope that the team is just being cautious and that we will see Cade Cunningham et al. soon, but if they have to miss the beginning of the regular season we might be in for another long year.