Pistons schedule: Where will Detroit be by December?

The Detroit Pistons have started in a 3-12 hole and things are likely to get worse before they get better.

They are now missing both Cade Cunningham and Isaiah Stewart and will hit the road for a six game trip that starts with a back-to-back against the Clippers and Lakers.

It’s only the middle of November, but the Pistons are already getting mentioned in trade rumors, which is depressing considering there were hopes that this team would turn a corner this season and compete.

That hasn’t happened so far, and instead the Pistons have been getting blown out at a rate not seen since the “Process” Sixers, which is not good company to be in.

The good news is that there is still time to turn things around, but the bad news is that the already talent-starved Detroit Pistons will be trying to do it shorthanded and are facing one of the toughest stretches of their schedule.

When you look at the rest of November, it’s unclear where the next win is coming from and the Pistons could be well-buried before Santa even warms up the sleigh.

Pistons schedule: What will Detroit’s record be by December 1st?

I predicted the Pistons win totals month by month before the season started. I tried to be as realistic as possible, but still overshot the mark even though I only predicted eight wins between October and November.

Unfortunately, it looks like that number is going to be way high. Here is the remainder of November for the Detroit Pistons:

• @Clippers
• @Lakers
• @Kings
• @Nuggets
• @Jazz
• @Suns
• vs. Cleveland
• vs. NY Knicks

Outside of the pathetic Lakers, do you see a win in this group? The Clippers have won 6-of-10 and are starting to round into shape, though they are still battling injuries and will be shorthanded tonight.

The Kings are one of the hottest teams in the league and have won four in a row. The Suns, Nuggets and Jazz are the top three teams in the Western Conference. Cleveland is struggling at the moment but have already blown the Pistons out this season, ditto for the Knicks.

The only game where the Pistons won’t be huge underdogs is against the Lakers, which is the second game of a back-to-back and Detroit will probably still be missing their best player.

There is a very good chance that Detroit is going to be 3-20 on the first day of December, worse than even the most pessimistic among us thought they would be. December 15th is an important date to watch, as Detroit can trade Bojan Bogdanovic after that and are certainly going to be getting calls from teams around the league.

The Pistons might be more inclined to answer those calls if they have only won three games, so if that is where they are heading into December, don’t be surprised if there are some moves as Detroit goes even younger and commits to the tank.