Depending on your level of optimism going into the season, the Detroit Pistons are pretty much right where you expected or a disappointment.
Many fans thought the young team might make a leap after drafting Cade Cunningham, but the Pistons are headed for another season in low 20’s for wins.
It looks as though they will improve from last season’s 20-win campaign, but not by much, and they would have to go 8-10 down the stretch to hit the over for their preseason win total.
But for the most part, it’s been a good year of development for their young players. Cade Cunningham gets better every game and has improved some of his early-season problems with turnovers.
Saddiq Bey has added to his game and looks like a core piece moving forward and Isaiah Stewart has come on of late, really honing his defense and adding a lot of hustle stats.
Jerami Grant is about where we thought he’d be, though he had to miss a lot of games with an injured thumb and Hamidou Diallo has progressed as planned.
But there are two guys who have been disappointments this season for the Detroit Pistons, and that doesn’t include Killian Hayes, who many fans would add to the disappointing list.
Detroit Pistons: Why I didn’t choose Killian Hayes
I know a lot of fans are disappointed with Killian Hayes’ lack of progress on the offensive end this season.
But I didn’t have high expectations for the youngster after he had to miss so many games last year, as this is a essentially his rookie season 1.5 and he is still just 20-years-old.
I do think Hayes has improved as a defender and facilitator this year even if his overall offensive game has not developed much.
He has handled his move to the bench well, and looks like a guy who can make an impact without scoring much, similar to Marcus Smart, who is a key player for a good Celtics team even though he is not prolific offensively.
Year three will be a huge one for Killian Hayes, as he will have to make some strides as a shooter and finisher to stay part of the long-term plans, but year two has gone pretty much how I thought it would.
My expectations were low and he has met them.
For the next two guys, that is not the case.
Detroit Pistons’ most disappointing players: Kelly Olynyk
Kelly Olynyk was the Pistons’ big free-agent acquisition in the offseason and was supposed to be a veteran presence who would solidify their bench and help the development of Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes.
Olynyk was coming off his best season as a pro, and I thought he might have a shot at Most Improved Player if he had a similar type of season for the Pistons in an expanded role.
He was supposed to be the number one guy off the bench, a player who would help improve Detroit’s woeful shooting and give them a big who could stretch the floor.
Instead, Olynyk is having arguably the worst season of his career, averaging just 9.2 points per game (down from 13.5 last season) and shooting a career-worst 33 percent from long range.
Olynyk’s effective field goal percentage is by far the lowest of his career, as he has shot just 46 percent from 2-point range and 70 percent from the free-throw line.
In his defense, Olynyk has only played 27 games after having to undergo knee surgery and this clearly had an effect on his season, but in the end, the Detroit Pistons signed this guy to give them consistent production from the bench and he hasn’t, whether because of injury or ineffectiveness.
Olynyk has been good at times, and you can see the fit, but he’s not been in the lineup consistently enough nor played consistently when he has been.
Detroit Pistons’ most disappointing players: Frank Jackson
Another player whose season has not gone to plan is Frank Jackson, who had a semi-breakout season last year and was hoping to build on it.
Like Olynyk, Jackson’s season has somewhat been undone by injuries and illness, as he has suffered minor injuries or illness several times just as he was starting to get going.
He was meant to be the Pistons’ “instant offense” off the bench after shooting more than 40 percent from long range last season.
Jackson has improved his scoring, averaging 10.7 per game, which is the highest of his career. He has also shown that he can explode for big games, as he has a couple of times this season.
The problem is that he hasn’t done it consistently enough, and last year’s 3-point shooting is starting to look like it might have been a fluke.
Jackson is shooting just 32 percent from long range this season, down eight points from last season. He is taking the most attempts of his career (5.5 per game) but is hitting them at the same clip he did in his first two seasons in the league.
With three seasons at around 32 percent and one at 40 percent you have to wonder if last year was an outlier for Frank Jackson or if injuries held him back from being there again this season.
Either way, fans were hoping he’d be in there more often and hitting more shots when he was, so it’s been a somewhat disappointing season for Jackson. I still think he represents a great value contract for the Pistons, but he’d be the first to say that his shooting has not been up to scratch this season.