The Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets will play tonight in a battle of the two worst teams in the Eastern Conference.
The Hornets have won four in a row, so have pulled 3.5 games ahead of the Pistons, who currently have the third-worst record overall and the maximum odds to land the number one pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, though 14 percent is still a huge long shot.
Both Charlotte and Detroit are rebuilding and have been neck-and-neck for most of the season, though the Pistons have been missing best player Cade Cunningham for all but 12 games of it.
While teams like Orlando and OKC have pulled ahead and are fighting for play-in spots, the Hornets and Pistons are lagging behind and still fighting for lottery position. The two teams have a lot of similarities in terms of roster construction, so which of the East’s worst teams is ahead in their rebuilding process?
Detroit Pistons vs. Charlotte Hornets? Which rebuild is going better?
Cade Cunningham vs. LaMelo Ball
Both Detroit and Charlotte are building their teams around dynamic guards in Cade Cunningham and LaMelo Ball. Both guards are team leaders who can do a little bit of everything, and their career stats are eerily similar.
I’m sure you could argue all day about which player is better, but at this point, you have to give the nod to LaMelo simply because he has played more. Both players have missed time this season, but LaMelo has played 35 games to Cade’s 12 and played 75 games last season to Cade’s 64.
Ball has also been the better 3-point shooter of the two and is putting up 23.4 points, 8.5 assists and 6.4 rebounds this season for the Hornets while Cade has been mostly sitting on the bench.
I don’t think you can go wrong with either of them, and there may be a point when Cade surpasses Ball, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Advantage: Hornets
Detroit Pistons vs. Charlotte Hornets? Which rebuild is going better?
The young core
This one seems like a no-brainer in favor of the Detroit Pistons, as the Hornets don’t really have a young “core” per se.
Outside of LaMelo Ball, the Hornets have just Mark Williams as young players currently making an impact. It’s possible that guys like Bryce McGowens, Kai Jones, James Bouknight and JT Thor will eventually get there, but so far they have played sparingly and done little for Charlotte.
Most of their players outside of this group are in their mid to late 20’s and it’s possible that PJ Washington will be on a different team next season.
The Detroit Pistons, on the other hand, have Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren to go along with Cade, and you can potentially add Isaiah Stewart, James Wiseman, Marvin Bagley III and Killian Hayes.
Only Ivey and Duren have really shown star potential, but the Pistons have plenty of youth and are hoping guys like Stewart, Hayes, Wiseman and MBIII at least evolve into solid role players.
This is the biggest argument for the Detroit Pistons, as they are the younger team and their young players get more minutes, and yet they are still very close to Charlotte in the standings. The Pistons have a higher ceiling with the young group they currently have.
Advantage: Pistons
Detroit Pistons vs. Charlotte Hornets? Which rebuild is going better?
The veterans
This is an interesting one, as both teams have veteran contributors, but both teams are building around their star guards.
The Hornets have Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier as their main guys, while the Pistons have Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, which is pretty even, though I would probably give Detroit the edge just because of contracts.
Hayward is making over $30 million through next season, while Rozier is signed to a deal that will pay him $26 million through 2025-26, while the two Pistons’ vets are on team-friendly deals.
The Hornets also have Kelly Oubre Jr, who is on an expiring contract and Cody Martin, a role player signed through 2025-26, who has played all of seven games this season. Detroit has Cory Joseph and Rodney McGruder to round out their vets, two players who are not part of the future plans and should not be on the roster next season.
Neither team has a clear advantage, though I would give a slight nod to Detroit just because of the contracts involved and the fact that Charlotte leans a lot more on their veterans and still stinks.
Advantage: Pistons
Detroit Pistons vs. Charlotte Hornets? Which rebuild is going better?
The money and draft
Both teams are hoping for lottery luck and to add some impact talent via free agency and/or trades ands both are in a position to do so.
The Pistons currently have slightly better odds for the #1 pick, but only by 1.5 percent, so no big advantage there. It’s very possible the two teams end up in the positions they are in now, so Detroit has a slight edge but not by much when it comes to lottery odds.
Both teams will have around the same amount of cap space this offseason as well, so there isn’t a decisive advantage, especially since neither team is really considered a hot destination for free agents.
If you are looking at the rosters now and into the future, I’d give the Detroit Pistons an edge when it comes to ceiling, as most of their best players are young while the Hornets have less young talent in their pipeline.
When you factor in that the Hornets have more contributing veterans and have had their best player for more of the season, it’s actually surprising that Detroit is this close to them in the standings, which doesn’t bode well for Charlotte.
But both teams can make additions this offseason that could get them back in the playoff hunt next season, so it will all come down to how they handle the offseason.
Overall advantage: Pistons