The Detroit Pistons completed the 2021-22 season with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, their 3rd defeat in a row.
The Pistons finished the season 23-59, a slight improvement from the previous two seasons when they only won 20 games in each.
The big difference this year is that there is hope. Detroit finally has a star to build around in Cade Cunningham, who was looking more and more unstoppable offensively as the season went on.
He obviously still has some things to work on this offseason (getting stronger with the ball, shooting efficiency) but all signs point towards superstardom for the Pistons’ rookie.
With some nice complementary players already in place, a load of cap space and hopefully another top draft pick, the Pistons could be the Cleveland of next season, the team that makes the leap from the cellar to playoff contention.
The season finale was a pretty disappointing affair, as Cunningham didn’t play and the rest of the starters played limited minutes.
Hopefully this is the final season when we’ll be using the dreaded work “Tank,” as now is the time to start winning and pushing forward.
By the way, I’ve had some fans suggest that Detroit tank again next year, and I absolutely disagree. Draft picks only offer hope, not guarantees, and these young Pistons want to win, so even if they don’t end up making the playoffs next season, they should be doing their best to put a winning product on the floor.
Not only are people paying hard-earned money for these tickets, but the Pistons want Cade Cunningham to be here for the long term, and the best way to ensure that is to take incremental steps towards contention every season, not to constantly keep telling him, “wait until next year!”
Next year is now and the Detroit Pistons need to put a more competitive product on the floor next season. Enough is enough.
Here are three takeaways from what will hopefully be the final tanking season fans have to endure.
Pistons’ lottery odds: Locked in to the 3rd-worst spot
After all of the complaining and worrying, the Detroit Pistons ended up with the third-worst record and secured the best possible odds for a top-4 pick or to land the number one overall.
It is still basically a coin flip, as Detroit will have a 52.1% chance of landing in the top-4, which is where they want to be in a draft that isn’t as deep or talented as last year.
Unfortunately, Detroit’s best odds for any one pick are for the 6th, which has a 26 percent chance. Picks 1-5 range from 12-14.8 percent each and they have just a seven percent chance for the 7th pick overall.
So there is nothing Detroit can do at this point but wait and hope to get lucky again in the NBA lottery. Start collecting your lucky charms and hope Detroit gets rewarded for being the best of the bad teams.