Should Pistons tank after Cavaliers trade for Donovan Mitchell?

The Detroit Pistons don’t need to tank

I don’t think this Cleveland trade affects Detroit’s chances, as they were likely to finish below the Cavs anyway, but I’ll play along.

The funny part about this argument is the idea that the Detroit Pistons have the choice of being good or not and that they would choose to be bad.

This is a young team that likely wouldn’t need to tank to lose games anyway, so they don’t need the organization to meddle to ensure they are at the bottom of the Eastern Conference again.

They are going to lose anyway, so why not let your young guys go out there, do their thing and let the chips fall where they may? The Pistons only have a couple of veterans who they were likely to trade anyway since they are all on expiring deals, so they don’t need to do anything radically different to increase their chances of being in the lottery.

Tanking is unnecessary when nearly your entire team is in their early 20’s.

Aside from that obvious fact, losing on purpose is just gross. It robs fans who pay for tickets, deflates the fanbase (other than the ones obsessed with “hope” and the draft) and teaches your players bad habits.

There is also little evidence that hoarding top-5 picks actually leads to championships.

I really hate this argument because it really isn’t an argument. The Pistons are going to be bad anyway, so let them do it organically with guys out there busting their butts, trying to win, building chemistry and learning what it takes to be good in the NBA.

If that somehow leads to a play-in berth, so be it! This means your team is ahead of schedule and already has its foundational stars. Troy Weaver did pretty well with the 13th pick this season, so who’s to say he can’t find a great player in that range? Also, that’s exactly what Cleveland just did, and now they have one of the best rosters in the East, and used that 14th pick as part of the package to get Mitchell.

If it doesn’t work out, so be it! I get to write a million more mock drafts and fans have even more hope for the future.

The Detroit Pistons don’t need to tank, they will either lose and get a top pick, or they won’t.