A non-tanking year for Pistons smart, too much competition

Detroit Pistons general manager Troy Weaver has declared the team will be ‘competitive’ this season. Good timing, as a lot of NBA teams are tanking, which means the battle to be at the bottom of the standings will be crowded.

On Media Day, the ‘tank’ was officially declared over. The Pistons will try to win this year and make the playoffs. Will they? That is a different question, but they will at least attempt to do so.

For those who hoped for one more trip in the ‘Tank’ for Detroit, one more season of losing to get a Victor Wembenyama or Scoot Henderson, well, that is not happening.

"“I feel like we finally have a full complement of players,” Weaver said Monday, according to NBA.com. “First two years, we didn’t. We can go and compete every night.”"

Now, as stated already, how well the Pistons do in the win-loss column is still open to debate. WynnBet has their over-under in wins at 28.5, and that figure will not get them even close to the Play-in (Charlotte with 43 wins got the last play-in spot last season).

But the point is, Detroit will try to win.

No more shoving a rookie into the starting lineup because he got drafted high (like they did two years ago with Killian Hayes, with disastrous results). If Jaden Ivey does start, it will because he earned it.

No more long list of ‘injured’ players at the end of the season. All hands on deck for this year. If the trade for Bojan Bogdanovic signalled anything, it was that the Pistons were allowed to win this season, and they also want Cade Cunningham to be surrounded by good players.

Simple equation: Good players=Winning. If you keep adding good players, you can’t tank.

Again, Detroit is very young and, outside of maybe Cunningham, Bogdanovic and Saddiq Bey, there is not a lot of proven talent. They may not win a ton of games, but they will attempt to, and try hard, as that is just how this team is wired.

You think Cade Cunningham is going to out and not try to win? Or Saddiq Bey or Isaiah Stewart? Bojan Bogdanovic would not be interested in applying his shooting skills for a team not even trying. Those days are over now.