The Detroit Pistons are trying to bounce back from a 17-win season that wasn’t much fun for anyone.
The Pistons missed the most games in the NBA due to injury, including losing centerpiece Cade Cunningham for most of the season. They played the young guys and took their lumps, but hopefully made some impact additions that will help turn things around.
The Pistons are still long shots to make the playoffs, but will have something new to play for next season in the NBA’s first In-Season Tournament.
The schedule was released yesterday and the Pistons found themselves in East Group A, which also includes the 76ers, Hawks, Cavaliers and Pacers.
Detroit would not only have to come out of the group as the winner or wild card, but win three additional games beyond that to win the first NBA Cup. Winning the whole thing is unlikely, but could the Pistons emerge from their group?
Detroit Pistons: East Group A is the worst group
The Pistons were a combined 2-13 against the teams in their group last season and nine of those losses were blowouts, so on paper, they are by far the biggest underdog in the group. Philly, Cleveland and Atlanta all made the playoffs last season and Indiana was just outside of the play-in.
But only the 76ers and Cavaliers were above .500 last season, so we are not talking about great teams here when it comes to the Hawks and Pacers. Detroit could beat either of them and one win against either Philly or Cleveland would likely put them through.
Group B is primed to be a bloodbath with the Bucks, Knicks and Heat doing battle and Group C has four teams that were at least in the play-in last season. So Detroit got lucky in the group draw and is at least up against a few teams that they have a chance of beating.
These aren’t the same Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons didn’t go out and sign a splashy free agent this offseason and were probably smart not to do so, as most of them were middle-tier players who were not going to significantly move the needle.
But they did add Monte Morris, Joe Harris, Ausar Thompson, Marcus Sasser, and most importantly, will be getting Cade Cunningham back from injury.
No one else in their group made an addition as significant as Cunningham, who has looked fantastic in scrimmages, so this won’t be the same team the rest of them beat up on last season while the Pistons were injured and tanking.
Indiana arguably made the biggest addition by signing Bruce Brown, and I do expect they will improve next season along with the Pistons.
The other three teams just added rookies and tweaked their benches without making any significant signings. In the cases of Philly and Cleveland, these are title contenders who already had their team in place and didn’t need to make big moves, but Detroit should be much improved and there’s a chance the rest of them won’t be.
These games will also be played early in the season, so expect everyone to still be finding their footing and chemistry. Detroit may have more of this to do than anyone, as they have a new head coach and are getting their best player back, but you could also argue that this is a good time to catch future playoff teams who will ramp up as the season progresses.
Will the other teams in East Group A care?
One of the biggest questions hanging over the first ever In-Season Tournament is whether anyone will care, which includes both the teams and the fans.
With little at stake other than the horribly named “NBA Cup” there isn’t much motivation for the good teams to really take this any more seriously than they would any other regular season game in November.
Philadelphia could likely still be dealing with the James Harden soap opera or the fallout from trading him, which could include trying to incorporate a bunch of new players onto their roster.
Atlanta also has a new coach and could be facing similar drama if they decide that the Trae Young, Dejounte Murray pairing is not working as planned. They also lost John Collins (not a huge deal) and will be trying to pick up that slack with rookies and past-their-prime veterans. You get a sense Atlanta is not yet a complete team or in their final form.
Indiana and Cleveland will both have something to prove as young teams on the come up, but I think you could argue that the Pistons will be the hungriest in their group, as they have the most to prove and the most to gain by winning, as they are the team least likely to make the playoffs next season.
I wouldn’t be shocked if Philly doesn’t take this seriously, and Detroit is not that far behind the other three teams so it’s at least conceivable they could get a win on a given night.
It’s still a long shot, but don’t rule the Pistons out of advancing out of Group A, as it’s probalby the weakest group, they have improved more than the other teams and might take it more seriously.