To restore the Detroit Pistons to the relevance of The Bad Boys or Goin’ to Work teams who prided themselves on discipline, defense, and diligence, the franchise needs to transition from signing underperforming players to developing the roster.
During the first three years of Troy Weaver’s tenure, he’s looked to the NBA’s scrap pile to improve the franchise’s baseline of talent. Players who never lived up to their potential might only need a change of scenery, coach, or different development program to become contributors or trade assets. Given the limited resources available when Weaver took the helm, this has been a reasonably successful strategy.
Most of Weaver’s reclamation projects didn’t pan out (i.e., Josh Jackson, Jahlil Okafor, and Dennis Smith Jr.). Some, like Trey Lyles and Kevin Knox, became trade chips, and MB3 and James Wiseman might prove valuable assets this summer.
All things considered, a decent record for low-risk/moderate-reward moves.
Detroit Pistons: Time to change the strategy
This summer, we’re entering the last two years of Cade Cunningham’s rookie contract, which means the financial clock is ticking, and it’s more important than ever that our player development improves.
While it’s always best practice to increase the value of a team’s assets with every move, a player’s potential value to other teams can no longer be a point of emphasis. The next step will be developing each individual player to increase the Pistons’ collective effectiveness on the court.
I would never suggest drafting for fit, but with a young core in place, fit becomes more important when evaluating trades and free agency acquisitions.
The Pistons need to win games not only to satisfy the fan base but also to help the core develop. Losing begets losing. Effective habits lead to winning, and winning reinforces effective habits. It’s hard to hold oneself accountable without seeing the fruit of one’s labor.
When the team shows cohesion and cohesiveness, players who haven’t found success elsewhere will thrive if they fit in the system, which will increase the value of the team’s assets and clarify who deserves more of a role and who is best as a role player.