The Detroit Pistons are in the home stretch of another long and disappointing season that was full of injuries and losses.
It will all be worth it if Detroit gets lucky in the NBA Draft Lottery, but either way, let’s hope this is the last season where the word “tank” becomes part of our daily vocabulary.
With just nine games remaining, the Detroit Pistons have the worst record in the NBA, with 2.5 games between them and Houston, so it looks like they are a lock to finish in the bottom three at least.
With the lottery odds all but decided, there isn’t much to do but ride out the rest of a season that has simultaneously flown by, but also been a huge slog at times.
Here are nine things to watch in the last nine games in no particular order.
Detroit Pistons schedule: 9 things to watch in the last 9 games
#9: A chance at history
Will the Pistons win another game this season? They are currently sitting on 16 wins, which would leave them in a tie for the worst record in franchise history. If you are going to be terrible, you may as well lean into it I suppose. By the way, three of the five worst records in team history have come in the last four seasons.
#8: Eugene Omoruyi
After a hot start, Omoruyi has cooled off some, though he is still playing hard, grabbing rebounds and defending. Has he done enough to earn himself a full-time contract next season? Probably not, but he has to be the frontrunner for one of the two-way contracts for next year. He competes at a high level and is a pretty good defender, things this team needs. Speaking of two-way deals…
#7: The Nepo-Baby
Don’t look now but nepo-baby Buddy Boeheim is getting some late-season run. He’s played in six games so far and is averaging 2.3 points in limited garbage-time minutes. He had a nice second half for the Motor City Cruise, but is shooting just 19 percent from long range for the big team. For such a bad team, the Detroit Pistons got next to nothing from their two-way contracts or G-League affiliate this season, a huge failure of player development. These should be the final nine games for Buddy as a Piston unless Troy Weaver owes his dad another favor.