The Eastern Conference just got a little bit more daunting for the Detroit Pistons after the Cleveland Cavaliers made a blockbuster trade to acquire Donovan Mitchell.
The Cavs did it without sending out any of their core players, using just a sign-and-trade of Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkannen, Ochai Agbaji, three picks and two swaps to land the star from Utah.
It was an unexpected turn, as the Knicks were the team most rumored to be after Mitchell, but apparently the Jazz preferred the package offered by the Cavaliers.
This definitely shifts the power of the Central Division, as the Cavaliers have probably leapfrogged the Bulls and could even knock the Bucks off their division perch.
Fans of the Detroit Pistons had various reactions to the trade, many of them being in the “when is this going to happen to us?” camp, as the Cavaliers are now legit contenders, a huge turnaround considering they were recently with Detroit in the cellar.
But many had a different reaction: It’s time to tank.
Detroit Pistons: Tanking appeals to some fans
To the tank community, the Cleveland trade was further proof that the Pistons should lose for one more season to try and land a generational talent like Victor Wembanyama or one of the other top players in next year’s draft, which is thought to be loaded at the top.
Yes, the Pistons have Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, but now have another loaded team in the Eastern Conference to deal with, a team in their own division that they will have to play four times next season.
Adding another potential superstar is appealing, especially to a team that is so young and not likely to win a ton of games next season anyway.
Their predicted month-by-month record was pretty grim before this trade, so should the Detroit Pistons tank away another season in an attempt to balance the superstar scales in the Eastern Conference?
The Detroit Pistons should tank
First off, no players are going to step onto the court with the idea of losing on purpose, and if they do, the Detroit Pistons shouldn’t want them on the roster.
Tanking is not a player thing, it’s an organizational thing, as guys like Cade Cunningham are not just going to lay down and lose so that they can add another draft pick.
Tanking happens when teams rest players longer than they need to, use minor injuries as a reason to sit players during important games, trade veteran players away and replace them with rookies, or sit veterans with dubious injuries down the stretch to avoid winning games.
The Pistons have employed all of these tactics in recent seasons, though not as egregiously as teams like the Thunder, who were running out lineups last season that wouldn’t have competed in the G-League.
The pro-tanking argument simply comes down to the idea that collecting as many top-5 draft picks as possible gives teams the best shot at landing a superstar, since that is where most of them are taken.
Next year’s draft has a few guys at the top who are projected to be stars, so adding a third (possibly 4th depending on Jalen Duren) star pick would give the Detroit Pistons a chance to be a dynasty in 4-5 years when these players are all entering their primes.
Tanking in and of itself has never really fully worked, but it lays the foundation for big trades, and gives teams a base of stars to build upon. Adding one more young star to the core couldn’t hurt and would give the free-agent deprived Pistons a chance to build something organically, a team that should be good right around the time some of the current top talent is shuffling out of the league.
It makes sense, though results have varied.
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.