Pistons news: Where Detroit really blew it last season

The Detroit Pistons currently have the worst record in the NBA, and there hasn’t been much to be excited about.

Cade Cunningham is out with injury and may miss the rest of the season, rookie Jaden Ivey has had to sit recently and the entire Pistons’ starting five has been out with injury at various points.

To make matters worse, some of the Pistons’ past decisions are coming back to haunt them, as two guys they passed on are blowing up this season.

Even though Killian Hayes has been playing better lately, it’s hard not to look at what Tyrese Haliburton is doing this season and wonder what could have been. Haliburton is putting up MVP numbers right now and has the Pacers as the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference.

Every team has draft choices they wish they could undo, and we’ve talked about this one ad nauseam, but Haliburton is putting up 20 a game and leading the NBA in assists while shooting 38 percent from 3-point range on high volume.

Misses in the draft happen to every team, but there was a another miss last season that really can’t be explained away by the unpredictability of the draft.

Detroit Pistons: The failed Bol Bol trade

Last season, the Detroit Pistons were on the cusp of trading for Bol Bol, a move that had fans excited as they were only giving up Rodney McGruder and a second-round draft pick for an unknown but intriguing talent.

Bol had barely played at that point, and there were some injury concerns though he reportedly wasn’t sitting out last year because of injury, but because he was on a good Nuggets that had a deep roster.

His upside gave Pistons fans something to be excited about, but it was short lived, as the Pistons’ medical staff nixed the trade after Bol Bol reportedly failed his physical.

All guys his size have some amount of physical problems, but the Pistons obviously thought they were too big to risk… checks notes… RODNEY FREAKING MCGRUDER AND A SECOND ROUND PICK! Glad we have that medical staff there to save Troy Weaver from himself, as McGruder and that pick are clearly the keys to a title. (massive sarcasm font).

Initially it appeared that they made the right call, as Bol Bol had to have season-ending surgery on his foot and was traded a few times before eventually signing with Orlando.

Orlando took a risk that Detroit wasn’t willing to and it paid off, as Bol is one of the frontrunners for most improved player this season, putting up 13.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and two blocks per game while shooting 60 percent from the floor and 42 percent from 3-point range.

Do you know any teams that could use 3-point shooting and rim protection? One in particular comes to mind.

The Detroit Pistons were unwilling to take a chance on a low-risk, high-upside player and it cost them, as Bol has played in every game this season so far for Orlando and is doing a lot of things the Pistons need.

Bol may end up being an injury problem, but who cares? It’s not like they were giving up much to get him and he’s still just 23-years-old.

For a rebuilding team to give up that chance to save itself a measly second-round pick was pretty dumb, and is one that is coming back to haunt the Pistons now.