The Detroit Pistons have been all over the place in their last seven games.
After losing six in a row, the young Pistons have gone 3-4, which isn’t terrible considering they have several players injured including Cade Cunningham.
But the losses have been ugly blowouts and revealed the Pistons’ biggest and most obvious weakness, which is that they can’t defend.
They are going to be the worst defense in team history and currently it’s not even close, as they are nearly seven points per game worse than they were last season, which set the mark for the franchise.
The overall offense has ticked up in the last seven games, as the Detroit Pistons are averaging 114.7 points per game.
But that doesn’t much matter with the way their defense is playing, as they have given up 119.2 points per game in that stretch, allowing some huge point totals in the losses.
They’ve now lost two in a row and will face Philadelphia again tonight with Jalen Duren and Bojan Bogdanovic joining Cade Cunningham, Marvin Bagley III and likely Isaiah Livers on the bench, so it’s very likely the Pistons are going to lose their third straight.
Let’s face it, an ugly season is probably going to get uglier when it is all said and done, especially if the Pistons give in and trade Bojan Bogdanovic before the deadline.
All we have left is development and hoping the young players improve individually and as a team as the second half of the season unfolds.
Here are the players who are trending in the right direction, and two that are not.
Detroit Pistons stock market: Players trending up
Hamidou Diallo
Diallo was a non-factor early in the season, but has been playing better over the last seven games, solidifying himself over Kevin Knox in the rotation.
Diallo still can’t shoot from range, but at least he has pretty much stopped trying, which has led to one of his best stretches of the season, as he has averaged 10.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 assist and a steal per game over the last seven while shooting 65.3 percent from the field.
Diallo at least provides some energy and athleticism off the bench and is making his case that he can be a bench player in the NBA. He still has a long way to go, but shooting efficiently will help his cause.
Killian Hayes
Killian Hayes is another player who still has a long way to go, but we’re seeing some positive signs. He’s been running the offense efficiently, and has gone from a bust to a guy who looks like he’ll at least be a serviceable backup point guard in the NBA.
Over his last seven games, Hayes has averaged 15 points, 6.9 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 47.2 percent from the floor and 39.4 percent from 3-point range.
It’s hard to evaluate this team without Cade Cunningham, but Hayes definitely looks like a different player than what we saw early in the season. He’s confidently taking and hitting mid-range shots at a higher clip, which is what he needs to do to be effective in the pick-and-roll.
I’ve definitely not come all the way around on Hayes yet, but he is getting there and making progress in a developmental year, which is all you can hope for.
Detroit Pistons stock market: Players trending up
Saddiq Bey
It looked like Saddiq Bey was starting to find his shooting stroke in December, but that was short lived and he has been struggling to score over the last seven games.
Even though he’s been playing big minutes mostly as a starter, Bey’s scoring numbers have actually gone down, culminating with his two point effort in the last game against Philly in which he started and played 29 minutes.
In his last seven games, Bey is averaging 12.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting just 39.2 percent from the floor overall. Those totals include his 28-point outburst against the Magic and if you take that out, he’s averaging just 10 points per game and has failed to crack double digits twice in the last six.
Bey is shooting 40 percent from 3-point range in that time, but a lot of that came in the game against Orlando. This has not been the season we were hoping from Saddiq Bey, and there are few signs that is changing.
Isaiah Stewart
Even when not hitting shots, Stewart still does a lot of things to help the Detroit Pistons, so I am not worried about his recent shooting slump.
Stewart really is the heart of the team and has been asked to do a lot this season with all of the injuries. He shows up every night, and has made a lot of progress overall offensively this season.
But his current shooting slump is getting too big to ignore, as Stewart has shot just 40 percent from the field overall in the last seven games and just 20 percent from 3-point range. He’s dropped to 34 percent from long range for the season, which isn’t terrible, but you’d like to see him tick back up in the second half.
Every player goes through slumps and I am sure Stewart will eventually break out of his. I like that he has continued to shoot them with 4.9 attempts per game in this seven-game stretch, and eventually they will start to fall again.