With the All-Star break now in the rearview mirror and just 23 games remaining in the season, it will be interesting to see what the immediate future holds. The Detroit Pistons have some great young talent, but so far absolutely nothing to show for those riches. Player development, competitiveness (or not), coaching, team chemistry, and player health (please come back whole, Cade, and soon) are but a few of the stories to follow as the season winds down.
Here are three things we’d like to see unfold in the rest of the 2022-23 season.
Detroit Pistons: More losses than wins
This is it. This is the last time. No more tanking after this. I’d say no more tanking at all, ever again starting right now but…Victor Wembanyama. We may as well grab a couple more tickets in the lottery for Wembanyama, which also has a tantalizing consolation prize in Scoot Henderson.
As tired as most of us are of watching the Pistons lose, which they have done this season with historically poor defense, we must brace ourselves to grin and bear our way through a few more drubbings for the good of the franchise.
As soon as the All-Star break concludes, the Detroit Pistons will head for Orlando to take part in a must-lose game. Alright, must-lose is overstating it but rather-lose rings of truth. Games against Charlotte, Houston, and Oklahoma City are also scheduled and also pivotal in regard to the draft lottery. It’s gut-wrenching to watch the Pistons lose as much as they have for the last few years, but as Joel Embiid would say, “It’s part of the process.” Hopefully the Pistons process doesn’t involve any Ben Simmons-like development fiascos.
Detroit Pistons: Jalen Duren and James Wiseman work well together
Rare is the NBA team that is heavily invests in two centers. Detroit may be on the verge of doing just that, and perhaps bucking NBA trends. If it works, it shall be embraced – but not before a large helping of skepticism is dealt with. So many questions must now be asked. Who will start? Will they start together? If so, who will slide over to the four? If they both play well, will they both be here for the long run?
It really is a fascinating development, and its clear that Troy Weaver has wanted Wiseman for some time. His track record when it comes to trading for tarnished top prospects is spotty, but he’s done a very good job in the draft itself. Wiseman was a part of the first draft that Weaver worked as a Piston. He ended up grabbing Killian Hayes with the 7th pick, which is arguably the selection that has been most criticized. He passed on over Tyrese Haliburton to take Hayes, which even at the time seemed like a mistake. Yet he redeemed himself by snagging both Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey in the middle of that same 1st round.
Both Duren and Wiseman are fantastic at slamming home lob passes. Each one has shown the ability to rebound, block shots, and anchor the defense at times but needs big work in those areas. And one also needs to be able stretch the floor if there is any hope of them sharing the court for extended minutes. It feels like a dream scenario right now – of the pipe dream variety. We’ll hopefully know more come the end of the regular season.
Detroit Pistons: The continued development of Jadey Ivey
I have spent a little time in this piece talking about potential future lottery picks (Wembanyama, Henderson), about a couple of former lottery picks that currently man the middle for the Detroit Pistons (Duren, Wiseman), and now its time to turn the scope on our most recent, highly coveted lottery pick – the 5th overall pick in the 2022 draft, Jaden Ivey.
Last summer, as NBA fans tired of hearing about Paolo Banchero, Jabari Smith and Chet Holmgren, their imaginations were captured by an athletic guard out of Purdue who was rising up draft boards. By the time the NBA Draft finally rolled around, that Boilermaker was seen as the likely 4th pick, not quite good enough to be slotted in the top tier with the “big three” but too good to fall to the Pistons at #5. Yet as luck would have it, Ivey did slide to number five, and as the tears rolled down his face it was clear that the standout guard was thrilled to be moving from West Lafayette, Indiana to Detroit.
So far, Ivey has largely delivered on the hype. Besides harvesting more than his share of highlights, he has been a fixture on KIA’s NBA Rookie Ladder. With nightly numbers of approximately 15 points per game to go with four rebounds and assists, he has shown the all around skillset that the Pistons thought they were getting when drafting the future backcourt mate of Cade Cunningham.
However, as is the case with any player his age, there is still work to be done before Ivey will become an All-Star weekend fixture. His 3-point shooting, which sits at 33.2 percent, could improve, as could his free-throw shooting for that matter (which sits at a pedestrian 72.5 percent). Ivey also needs to limit how often he turns the ball over. If Ivey can take a little bit better care of the basketball these last 23 games, as well as shoot a little better too, that progress will be a welcome sight for Pistons fans who are hoping that he is every bit the gift we thought he was when he fell to us at #5.