The Detroit Pistons are one of several young teams looking to climb out of the cellar into regular contention for the NBA playoffs.
There were five teams in the NBA last season that won 25 games or fewer, including the Pacers (25 wins), Thunder (24 wins), Pistons (23 wins), Magic (22 wins) and Rockets (20 wins).
It’s not likely that any of these teams actually make the playoffs next season, as both conferences are deep with talent, but after watching the Cleveland Cavaliers go from awful to contention in one offseason, you can’t rule it out.
All five of the NBA’s “bad” teams are young but talented and could represent the next group of contenders in the NBA, but which one is going to bust out first?
Detroit Pistons: Which bad team will be good first?
Orlando Magic
The Magic won just 22 games last season, but have a promising core built around Cole Anthony, Franz Wagner, Jalen Suggs and #1 pick Paolo Banchero.
Orlando’s climb out of the cellar will largely be dictated by how good Banchero is, as the rest of their guys are more in the “solid role player” category than stars you want to build around. Anthony, Wagner and Suggs are all really nice players but there is a solid chance that none of them are superstars.
If Banchero is, then the Magic have a nice team, though they have an odd big man situation with Mo Bamba, Wendell Carter Jr. and Jonathan Isaac all signed. They may need to make a trade to balance their roster, though they have no idea what, if anything, they are going to get from Isaac.
Orlando has a ton of projected cap space next offseason, so could be players in free agency if they improve this year with their young core. I like what the Magic are building but it feels like they are still several years away from being good and may lack the top-tier star power, depending on how Banchero pans out.
Will the Magic regret not taking Chet Holmgren? I think their fans might already, but it’s too early to tell. Much like the Detroit Pistons, the Magic’s turnaround will be dictated by the success of the #1 pick.
Detroit Pistons: Which bad team will be good first?
The Pacers are rebuilding on the fly, hoping to go young but still compete, while the Thunder are watching years of tanking finally culminate into a deep but extremely young roster.
Indiana Pacers
Of these five teams, the Pacers might be in the best position to win the most games next season, as they have a few established players around their young guards Tyrese Haliburton and Bennedict Mathurin.
The Pacers lost Malcom Brogdon, which will hurt in the short term, but still have veterans Buddy Hield, Myles Turner and second-year wing Chris Duarte, who is already like 45-years-old.
The Pacers look a lot like they always have, a team full of solid players that probably lacks a superstar. It might be enough to get them out of the cellar, but will they actually be good?
I am not so sure. I think the Pacers are shaping up to be a perennial 8th seed unless they got lucky in the draft with Mathurin or Haliburton has another level we haven’t seen.
OKC Thunder
The Thunder probably have more young talent than any team in the NBA, but how does it all fit together?
They have so many young guys that someone is going to end up in the G-League after they added Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams (that’s not confusing at all).
But the Thunder also brought back veterans Lu Dort and Kenrich Williams, so I do think this is a team that is finally trying to win.
And why not? If Holmgren really is the second coming of Kevin Durant as he looked in Summer League, this team could compete for the play-in next season in the Western Conference, which is wide open outside of the top few teams.
Josh Giddey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Holmgren is a pretty darn good trio to build around, but it all depends if the Thunder will actually try to win or go into tank mode again. You never know with Sam Presti, but OKC could be one of the surprise teams next season and I wouldn’t be shocked if they won the most games of any of the five bad teams.
But the Thunder are still VERY young, and young teams don’t generally win in the NBA. They are well on their way to being good though and I think there is a solid argument that they will be the first team out of this group to actually be a playoff contender.
Detroit Pistons: Which bad team will be good first?
Houston Rockets
I really love what the Rockets have done this offseason, as they had Jabari Smith fall into their laps with the 3rd pick and also grabbed Tari Eason (my pick for sleeper of the draft) and guard TyTy Washington.
But more importantly, they were able to get rid of John Wall finally and traded Christian Wood (I’ve never been a fan, sorry truthers) to the Mavericks.
The Rockets have a guy in Jalen Green who looks like a foundational superstar in the making, so if Smith ends up being good too, they have a really nice young core.
The question is do they have enough around the youngsters to actually compete next season? I am dubious, as they are just so young and will need time to gel.
I think it may take the Rockets a bit longer than the other teams on this list, but they have the right combination of high-ceiling young players and role guys to be very good in the near future.
They are also poised to have the most cap space of any team next offseason, so the Rockets are going to be good soon and might have the highest ceiling of any team on this list. Except for one of course.
Detroit Pistons
Like the Rockets, the Pistons hopefully already have their two stars in Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey.
They also grabbed 18-year-old Jalen Duren, who could be a force in the paint soon. The Detroit Pistons added veterans Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks to give them some much-needed leadership and depth, but they will certainly miss Jerami Grant, who was traded away to Portland.
The Pistons are getting some buzz from national pundits, as both JJ Redick and Kevin Durant said that they will soon be a force to be reckoned with.
I do think the Pistons have the best overall player of any of these teams in Cade Cunningham, who is the perfect player to build around in the modern NBA. I also think they have potentially better role players in Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart to go along with their star guards.
Will Jaden Ivey be as good as advertised? Will Cunningham make a big leap in efficiency? Do the Pistons have enough scoring? Veterans? I think these are all fair questions, and Detroit is certainly going to be one of the youngest teams in the league next season.
That being said, I think they have a really good chance to be the first “bad “team to get good, as they have the right combination of guys who are now building chemistry together and have complementary roles.
The Pistons also have a great payroll situation, and could have the most cap space in the NBA next offseason, when they will start to look appealing to potential free agents that want to join an up and coming team.
I am 100 percent a biased homer, so of course I am going to pick the Detroit Pistons, but you could also talk me into the Thunder and Rockets as bad teams that are soon to be good.