How the Pistons can become next season’s Cavaliers

The Detroit Pistons are mired in their third-straight awful season but there is hope on the horizon.

They definitely have future pieces in Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey, key role players like Isaiah Stewart, Hamidou Diallo and Frank Jackson, the possibility of another top NBA Draft pick on the way and copious amounts of cap space.

Add that to veterans Jerami Grant and Kelly Olynyk (if they are both still on the team next season) and you have the beginning of something.

The Cavaliers were in this same position last season, as winners of just 22 games but having some solid pieces and a future top-2 draft pick.

The Cavaliers have already won 35 games this season, are the NBA’s most surprising teams and are on their way to the playoffs in a current tie for the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference.

So how can the Detroit Pistons follow in their footsteps and go from cellar dweller to the playoffs? It won’t be easy, but not impossible either.

Step 1: The Detroit Pistons need to nail the NBA Draft

The Pistons got their star to build around last offseason when they drafted Cade Cunningham number one overall. He looks like a player they can build around and still has a chance at Rookie of the Year with a strong finish.

Like the current Pistons, last seasons’ Cavaliers already had some good young talent in guys like Darius Garland, Collin Sexton and Isaac Okoro and were able to supplement it with number two pick Evan Mobley.

Mobley was the perfect fit for what the Cavs needed and already had, so if the Pistons want to make a similar leap, they need to nail this draft by getting the perfect complement for Cunningham, Bey and Isaiah Stewart.

That could be a rim protecting big like Chet Holmgren, a stretch four like Jabari Smith, an all-around forward like Paolo Banchero, or even one of the guards or mystery men from the 2022 NBA Draft.

Whoever it is, the Detroit Pistons are going to need a rookie who can make an impact right away, like Mobley has for the Cavaliers.