There were five teams in the NBA that won 25 games or fewer last season and the Detroit Pistons were one of them.
We recently took a guess at which bad team would be good first, and looked at the Pistons, Pacers, Magic, Rockets and Thunder, the five worst teams in the NBA last season.
None of these teams will be bad for long, as all have exciting young talent that should be the future All-Stars of the league.
All five of these teams have a solid core of young talent to build around, but which team is the best?
For the purposes of these rankings I looked at only players under 25 that are considered to be part of the long-term rebuilding plans of their franchise. Every team has a couple of projected stars, as well as solid role players who should have long careers in the NBA.
Detroit Pistons: Ranking the young cores of the bad teams
#5: Indiana Pacers
Young core
- Tyrese Haliburton
- Bennedict Mathurin
- Chris Duarte
- Jalen Smith
The Pacers are in between a full rebuild and trying to reload, so they still have plenty of veteran players on the roster. Haliburton and Mathurin could end up being a very good backcourt for them, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if neither of those guys ever made an All-Star team.
Haliburton is a very good player already, but Mathurin is yet unproven, Duarte is already 25-years-old (I included him only because he’s entering his second season) and Jalen Smith projects to be more of a role player than a star.
The lack of more high-end talent is what landed the Pacers in this spot, though I wouldn’t be shocked if they won the most games of these teams next season given the veteran talent they have on the roster.
Detroit Pistons: Ranking the young cores of the bad teams
#4: Orlando Magic
Young core
- Paolo Banchero
- Cole Anthony
- Franz Wagner
- Jalen Suggs
- Markelle Fultz
- Mo Bamba
- Wendell Carter Jr.
- Jonathan Isaac
The Magic have an impressive amount of young talent on their roster, with just one player (Terrence Ross) over 25-years-old.
I do think people sleep on Anthony and Wagner a bit, and it’s possible that both of them will make an All-Star team or more in their careers, particularly Wagner, who is only 20-years old.
The Magic’s future will come down to how good Paolo Banchero is, whether Anthony and Wagner continue to improve, and the play of their two wildcard guards.
Can Fultz actually stay healthy? What does Suggs look like in year two? Coming out of college, both of these guys were considered two of the best guards in their class. Fultz hasn’t been able to stay on the floor and Suggs only played 48 games as a rookie, so it’s too early to tell what he is going to be.
The Magic have an exciting future, with some high-end talent flanked by a whole lot of promising young role players who could be more.
3: Houston Rockets
Young core
- Jalen Green
- Jabari Smith
- Kevin Porter Jr.
- Alperun Sengun
- Tari Eason
- TyTy Washington
The Houston Rockets have arguably the best duo with Jalen Green and Jabari Smith, as both project as high-end scorers.
There is a pretty big drop-off after that though, as Kevin Porter Jr. has been inconsistent, though his shooting efficiency did go up last season.
I do love Tari Eason, and picked him as my sleeper of the 2022 Draft. Usman Garuba and Josh Christopher could both be players as well, so Houston is pretty deep with young potential.
But they get the spot mostly because of the two guys at the top of the list, both who have a chance to make multiple All-Star teams at some point in their careers. Based on what he started doing at the end of last season, Jalen Green might be there sooner rather than later, as he scored 25+ in seven of his last eight games.
Detroit Pistons: Ranking the young cores of the bad teams
#2: Detroit Pistons
Young core
- Cade Cunningham
- Jaden Ivey
- Saddiq Bey
- Isaiah Stewart
- Jalen Duren
- Marvin Bagley III
- Isaiah Livers
Like the Rockets, the Pistons have two guys at the top who could end up being multiple All-Stars in the NBA. I do think that Cade Cunningham has the most individual potential of any player in these rankings and that Ivey could end up being the best player from his draft class when it is all said and done.
Just like Houston, there is a drop-off after the top two, but I do think the Pistons’ role players are better and that Saddiq Bey has a chance to be an All-Star at some point. Jalen Duren is just 18-years-old but already looks ahead of schedule and Marvin Bagley III is the wild card with a ton of talent to harness.
Livers may be a stretch here, and we’ll see about adding Killian Hayes to this list at some point this season if he emerges as a quality bench player and the Detroit Pistons pick up his option for 2023-24.
National media agrees, as the Pistons are finally getting some attention as a team that could be one of the best in the Eastern Conference soon.
But they still lack that third potential star (depending on what you think of Bey and Duren) and would need one more high-end guy to take the top spot.
#1: Oklahoma City Thunder
Young core
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
- Chet Holmgren
- Josh Giddey
- Aleksej Pokusevski
- Lu Dort
- Ousmane Dieng
- Tre Mann
- Jalen Williams
The Thunder take the top spot based on the fact that they not only have a large collection of talented young players, but have potentially the best “Big 3” of any of these teams.
SGA is already a proven star in the NBA, even though he has yet to make his first All-Star team, something that will probably be remedied next season if he puts up 24+ points per game again and the Thunder sniff the play-in or better.
Holmgren looked like the second coming of Kevin Durant in Summer League, a guy who can be a force on both ends.
Giddey is a very good point guard already, the perfect unselfish facilitator, rebounder and defender to go along with the two stars at the top. They have a really good role player in Lu Dort, and Tre Mann looks like a solid backup in the league.
Dieng and Williams are still unproven but were both lottery picks with a ton of potential.
The Thunder may finally be done tanking, as they have a young core they can build around for years to come. Let’s hope Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey both make the All-Star team next season and take the crown as best young core for the Detroit Pistons, but for now it’s hard to go against what the Thunder are building.