The Detroit Pistons haven’t had the offseason that some were hoping for after they signed Monty Williams to the largest coaching deal in NBA history.
They didn’t use their cap space on a splashy free agent, but instead went after two veterans on expiring deals in trades for Joe Harris and Monte Morris.
Detroit is putting all of their eggs in the basket of their young core, hoping for big leap years from Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren for most of their improvement.
It wasn’t glamorous, but the Detroit Pistons should be better next season with improved shooting around their young guards, but it will take a healthy season and a lot of things to go right for Detroit to get back to the playoffs.
They may have improved, but was it enough to get them out of the cellar of the NBA power rankings?
Pistons news: Detroit gets no love in ESPN power rankings
The answer is no, no it was not.
In the recent ESPN Power Rankings, the Pistons came in dead last of the 30 teams in the NBA. Here’s what they had to say about Detroit’s offseason additions:
"“Even after hiring Monty Williams as coach at the start of the offseason, the Pistons are still practicing patience with the development of their young core. Detroit added a few veterans, sharpshooter Joe Harris and guard Monte Morris, to help compliment (sic) a young team, instead of any flashy moves to accelerate their rebuild.”"
While I would probably bet against the Pistons being the worst team in the NBA for the second straight year, it’s hard to argue with this right now. Most of the other young teams did more to improve their rosters, although there are definitely some arguments about teams like the Washington Wizards (29), Charlotte Hornets (27), San Antonio Spurs (26) and Houston Rockets (24).
Washington started their rebuild but still have plenty of talent with Jordan Poole, Tyus Jones and Kyle Kuzma. But they also lost Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis, so could easily take a step backwards. Same with Charlotte, who like Detroit, will get their star guard back from injury along with a high draft pick in Brandon Miller. Will the Cade/Ausar additions be more impactful?
The Spurs are counting heavily on Victor Wembanyama for their improvement, but have already indicated that he’ll be load managed in his first season, so he may not play enough games to make that kind of impact.
The Rockets added Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks to go along with new head coach Ime Udoka, so they will be looking to make a big jump in the standings next season.
Unfortunately, there isn’t a team that is clearly worse than the Detroit Pistons after the offseason so far, and considering they won just 17 games last season, the 30th ranking is probably fair.