Detroit Pistons: Over or under on next season’s predicted win total?

The Detroit Pistons won just 17 games this past season and were the worst team in the NBA. It was a grind for fans, who are hoping Detroit can finally climb out of the cellar in the 2023-24 season.

They’ve added two more first-round picks and made trades for veteran shooters, which should give them a boost, but the most significant “addition” will be the return of Cade Cunningham, who hopes to take a major leap in year three and remind people why he was the number one pick.

The Pistons will also have a new head coach in Monty Williams, a guy who once took the Phoenix Suns from the worst record in the league to 34 wins in his first season on their bench.

Last season I took the under, as the Pistons were predicted to win 28.5 games and I had them at 28 total wins. I’ve been fooled too many times by my own optimism and unfortunately, I was correct, as Detroit fell well short of their preseason prediction.

A lot can change between now and next season, but right now the Detroit Pistons’ win total would be another tough one to call.

Detroit Pistons: Over or under on next season’s predicted win total?

According to Fanduel, the Pistons’ over/under for wins next season is just 26.5, even lower than last year. That would make the additions of Ausar Thompson, Marcus Sasser, Joe Harris, Monte Morris, Cade Cunningham and Monty Williams worth fewer than 10 extra wins next season.

The odds for the over are slightly worse (-115) than the under (-105) but obviously the books are trying to get maximum bets, so take those with a grain of salt.

While I don’t think Detroit is suddenly going to win 50 games, I do think that Monty Williams could have similar success in his first season with the Pistons as he did with the Suns, who he took from 19 wins to 34 in his first season.

Doubling their win total to get to 34 is a tall task, but I do think they’ll at least get to around 30 wins next season, though probably wouldn’t bet on it, as I’ve been burned by this team too many times before.

The Detroit Pistons still have an additional roster spot to fill, so could make another move before the regular season that would potentially shift these odds.