The rare chance at national recognition will be coming with ESPN showing the Detroit Pistons playing at the Houston Rockets. Do the Pistons need to look entertaining to get another shot with the TV networks? Probably.
As far as nationally television is concerned, Detroit has not existed as a franchise since, like, 2008. While the horrible New Orleans Pelicans get shown constantly on ESPN, ABC and TNT because they think the country is dying to see Zion Williamson, the Pistons are ignored.
Yes, there are several token appearances on NBA-TV every season. But, that network is owned by the league, they kind of have to show every team. And it is not a separate production, it merely picks up a local telecast. If it is an away game, Pistons fans get to hear the other team’s announcers.
But, for once, the Pistons will be in the national spotlight. The obvious lure is No. 1 overall draft pick Cade Cunningham against No. 2, and noted Detroit-hater, Jalen Green.
It is the only nationally televised game the Pistons have scheduled the entire season (not counting NBA-TV).
As everyone knows, Green was rather salty about the Pistons taking Cunningham over him as the first pick in the NBA Draft. Of course, it is not like Green, who has played all the games, unlike Cunningham, has turned the franchise around.
Houston actually has a worse record (1-9) than Detroit. At least the Pistons have an excuse, that Cunningham missed a lot of time with a sprained ankle and is just starting to round into shape.
Green is shooting just 35% from the field and 28-percent from three, so it he is not exactly showing Pistons general manager Troy Weaver he was wrong, so far.
Obviously, we are talking about 19-20-year-olds just starting their NBA careers, a slow start is not something to get too upset about.
But how the team looks with the whole country watching is kind of important. Detroit has a lot of cap space to spend on free agents next season. Top-flight players do not want to go to a team that gets three NBA-TV appearances a year for its entire national exposure.
Blake Griffin even said, because the Pistons rarely got nationally televised, people did not realize how much a toll the injuries had taken on his body.
Players do look at things like how much they will get to be on national TV.
Besides the ego of having more fans watching you, it helps in terms of getting recognition for awards and all-star teams. Many players have awards incentive clauses in their contracts for making certain teams, so being talked about by Charles Barkley or Adrian Wojnarowski can pay off financially.
But the TV networks are interested in personalities and not just the best teams (as the generally ignored Utah Jazz and Denver Nuggets will tell you). Dallas is not a real title contender but are constantly on due to Luka Doncic, as well as Pelicans with Williamson.
If Cunningham can look good, and the Pistons can — I don’t know __ shoot not awful, maybe the national networks will start picking up Detroit games.
Besides not having to rely on solely a regional cable connection to see Detroit (which some fans do not have access to), simply being part of the national conversation would be a major positive for the Pistons in the future.