After another losing season, the Detroit Pistons hope to land a top-3 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft but will need some help from their fellow tankers and the Lottery Gods.
After last night’s lackluster loss to Portland, the Pistons find themselves tied with Orlando for the second-worst record in the league, one game behind league-worst Houston.
The OKC Thunder are just a game ahead of Detroit and have lost a tankerific 10 games in a row, shamelessly trying to increase their chances.
The good news for tank enthusiasts is that Detroit is 5.5 games behind the 5th-worst record, so unless the Kings or Pacers literally lose all of the rest of their games, the Pistons are a lock for having one of the worst four records.
The bottom three teams all have the same odds for the top picks, and the fourth-worst team is right behind them with slightly worse odds.
The Pistons would love to stay in that bottom three to maximize their chances at getting another top pick to put around Cade Cunningham and it may end up coming down to one game.
Detroit Pistons vs. OKC Thunder: April Fools’ day could decide lottery odds
The Pistons and Thunder have one final meeting on April 1st that could end up being crucial for the overall lottery odds.
Taking a look at the two team’s schedules, the Pistons have the tougher remaining games of the two, as the Thunder still have one left against Orlando at home, which offers them a great chance to pick up a game.
The Pistons have winnable games against the Hawks, Wizards, Knicks, Thunder and Pacers, but also have tough matchups against the Nets, 76ers, Mavericks and Bucks.
The Thunder have winnable games against the Magic, Trail Blazers, Hawks, and Pistons with tough matchups against the Nuggets, Suns, Jazz and Lakers, the final two of which will be on the road.
The Pistons have one more game remaining than the Thunder, and if they steal a few of those “winnable” games, or beat one of the good teams they play, it may very well come down to that head-to-head matchup between them and OKC.
There could still be a lot of of shuffling at the bottom in these last nine games, but the Detroit Pistons are pretty much guaranteed to end in the bottom-4 of the NBA