The reason the Detroit Pistons have been bad for so long
The Detroit Pistons have not won a playoff game since May 2008, a streak of futility that they are hoping to end soon.
Their drought is currently the longest in the NBA after the Kings won a playoff game this season, and there is plenty of blame to go around for it.
You could point to some of the terrible trades over the years, or the free-agent mistakes that kept the Pistons either mediocre or terrible for so long.
Related Story. 7 biggest free-agent mistakes in Pistons' history. light
You could talk about the guys the Pistons gave up on too soon or the fact that they never properly rebuilt after their sustained run of success in the Goin’ to Work era.
But the real culprit is the NBA Draft, where the Detroit Pistons have been the worst team in the NBA for nearly 15 years.
Detroit Pistons draft: Team’s futility starts with the NBA Draft
Teams like the Pistons need to build through the draft, as they are not going to be a hot free-agent destination. Unfortunately, they have been utterly terrible at drafting over this span, a run of futility that is so bad it’s almost as if they were trying to avoid top talent. The Pistons have had some hits with role players and second-round picks, but their first-round picks have been nothing short of tragic.
You could probably take this back even further, but it really starts in 2008, the last year the Pistons won a playoff game and the year they should have been pivoting towards a rebuild through the draft. Boy did that not happen.
2008
DJ White: They took White with the 29th pick, and then traded him, so you can’t complain too much about missing there, but the Pistons walked away from this draft without a first-round pick.
2009
Austin Daye: Daye was never good in the NBA though he looked the part at times. He was a massive bust for Detroit, who took him two picks before Jrue Holiday, who is still one of the best defenders in the NBA for the Milwaukee Bucks.
2010
Greg Monroe: Moose had a couple of good seasons for the Detroit Pistons but the league quickly passed him by as a slew-footed center who couldn’t really shoot or defend outside of the paint. The Pistons missed the memo that the league was starting to go away from traditional bigs. Monroe has now been out of the league for years, while Paul George (taken three picks later) became the prototype for the modern forward. Oops.
2011
Brandon Knight: The 2011 NBA Draft had so many misses across the board, but three really stand out for the Detroit Pistons. Kemba. Klay. Kawhi. This one still hurts more than a decade later.