The Detroit Pistons were dead last in the NBA last season so they were obviously at the bottom of the Central Division.
In fact, the Indiana Pacers, who were the closest team to Detroit, doubled the Pistons’ win total with 35 victories last season.
Turning things around next season starts in the Central Division, and the Pistons have plenty of work to do, as they will once again be picked to finish last amongst the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls.
Fans shouldn’t expect the Pistons to start regularly beating the Bucks and Cavaliers, who are contenders next season, but player development and some new additions could give Monty Williams at least one advantage over every team in the Central Division.
1 Advantage the Pistons have over every Central Division team
Indiana Pacers: Athleticism
On paper, the Pacers look better than the Pistons for next season, as Tyrese Haliburton has already estalblished himself as a star and they have a nice mix of young players and veterans around him.
But they are one of the teams the Pistons could conceivably leapfrog, especially if Cade Cunningham comes back stronger, as is expected. A healthy Cade could surpass Haliburton in production, in which case these two teams are pretty even.
One area where Detroit should be well ahead of the Pacers is athleticism. While Cunningham and Haliburton are similar in that regard, Detroit is quicker and more athletic pretty much everywhere else, especially when Ausar Thompson is on the floor.
Detroit should be able to get out and run on Indiana with the combination of Jaden Ivey, Thompson and Duren, who can run circles around Buddy Hield, Bruce Brown and Myles Turner.
Will it be enough to get Detroit over the hump vs. Indiana? The Pistons were 2-2 against the Pacers last season and may be able to steal the season series next year.