After 15 games the Detroit Pistons are 3-12 and sit alone at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
They are a young team that has been battling injuries, but as the lopsided losses start to mount up, some people (including some of the players) are getting tired of hearing the excuses.
All but the most delusional knew that the Detroit Pistons were not going to be title contenders this season, but so far, it’s hard to call this season anything other than a disaster, even given the modest expectations coming in.
The season is still young, and Detroit has time to get healthy, build chemistry, string together some wins and turn this season into a positive, but they are getting ready to head off on a six-game road trip, so things are likely to get worse before they get better.
Yes, it’s early, but after just 15 games there are already some questions hanging over this team that need to be asked. There will hopefully be a point when these questions just look like fan panic over a young and bad team, but they are ones that the Detroit Pistons need to answer at some point this season.
What is the Detroit Pistons’ path to actually being good?
This season was never going to be measured in wins and losses, and I can envision a scenario where I would be happy with the Pistons only having three wins. If they were competitive in every game, playing hard, improving, but still losing, I don’t think anyone would care about the wins.
But that’s not happening currently, as the Pistons have a “Process”-like scoring margin and have pretty much gotten worse at everything, even compared to last season when they only won 23 games.
So my question is: What is the plan here?
Are the Detroit Pistons tanking in order to grab another pick? Hoarding top-5 picks has never been a proven method to win a title, and even adding Victor Wembanyama isn’t going to make the Pistons good right away. Even though the Pistons have the second-worst record in the league, they still have twice the chance of getting the 5th pick as the 1st one, so this is hardly a reliable strategy.
Spending in free agency? The Pistons will have a lot of money, but not a lot to spend it on, especially when it comes to guys who fill their most pressing needs. They can’t count on the 2023 free-agent class to save them.
Making trades? This is probably their best route, but what will they trade? The Pistons can’t trade a first-round draft pick until they convey the one they owe as part of the Stewart trade and other than their untouchable players (Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren) have really only Bojan Bogdanovic as a guy who might fetch a reasonable return.
The answer is internal development, as the Pistons do have a promising young core, but so does every other bad team in the league not named the Lakers, so even when their young guys inevitably get better, that may not be enough, and by that point, salaries will have risen.
Please tell me, as an exasperated fan, how this team is good next season. How about the year after that? I need a clearer plan than “we’ll just grab high-ceiling busts off the scrap heap and hope one of them is good.”
Without big leaps from their own guys (which may very well come soon), it’s hard to see a path for the Detroit Pistons to be good in the near future. You can count on player development, but eventually these guys aren’t going to be young and some of them are going to be getting paid.
Which brings me to the next question.
Detroit Pistons: How many good players are on this roster?
If you took a look at the Pistons’ roster right now, how many good players do you think are on it?
I am certain Cade Cunningham is good and will be even better. Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren aren’t there yet, but look like pretty safe bets.
Beyond that? Bojan Bogdanovic is probably the Pistons’ best player right now and he’s 33-years-old.
Saddiq Bey? Promising, but definitely not there yet. Same for Isaiah Stewart. I think we can safely say these two are quality role players, but I wouldn’t go any further than that at this point. You can probably throw Isaiah Livers into that discussion as well, even though he has been mediocre this season so far.
Beyond that? Alec Burks? A veteran who likely won’t be on the team long. Hamidou Diallo? Nope. Killian Hayes? Hopefully, but not yet. Marvin Bagley III? Eh.
The rest of the roster is definitively bad, so it’s not like they are one or two guys away from competing at this stage.
In fact, the Pistons’ roster has far more questions than answers, and you could easily argue that they are back to square one with three guys to build around who are all 21-years-old or younger.
The Detroit Pistons cannot overvalue (and overpay) their own talent, so guys like Bey, Stewart, Hayes etc… need to show more before Detroit can safely commit to them long term. There is talent on every roster in the NBA, and right now, the Pistons are not matching up and are counting a whole lot on guys who are still unproven.
Detroit Pistons: Is Dwane Casey the right guy to lead the rebuild?
I should start by saying that I like Dwane Casey and think he’s a very good coach. He’s been put in a tough situation and I don’t think changing coaches would suddenly make this team good.
But it’s fair to ask if he’s the right guy moving forward, as we’re just not seeing the type of effort and development that we thought we would this season.
I don’t think Casey will be fired (not until this season is over) and he should be given a chance to turn things around given the injuries the Pistons have had this season. But we are now in year five of this and can you really say anything is going well?
The Pistons don’t look like the scrappy team that was actually very competitive down the stretch last season, as they are getting blown out in a lot of games. It’s fair to ask if this team has started to tune out their coach and if it is time for a fresh voice in the huddle.
Dwane Casey was asked to oversee a complete tear down, which isn’t easy for a veteran coach who has had to watch his career record go in the toilet after compiling 107-210 record in Detroit. Casey has been a trooper and team player in that regard, and he is seemingly well-respected and liked by his squad.
But this is ultimately a results-driven business and Casey is not getting results right now, even by this season’s modest standards.
These aren’t easy questions to answer. They are also ones that could look a lot different in another 15 games, but right now, it’s fair to ask if this franchise is headed in the right direction and whether they have the personnel to get them there.