Pistons news: Excuses, blame and putbacks are piling up

So who is to blame for this poor start? That depends on who you ask, as fans are pointing fingers all over the place.

It’s Cade Cunningham!

Cade Cunningham coughed up another five turnovers last night to add to his NBA-leading total. He is currently averaging over five per game, which is worst in the league. The guys just behind him?

• Luka Doncic
• LeBron James
• Trae Young
• Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Kevin Durant

Man, these guys must all suck too! The truth is these are six of the highest usage players in the league who are currently doing everything for their team on offense. Yes, Cade has to clean up the unforced ones and has to take better care of the ball, but he is also playing with a depleted team with no offensive weapons teams respect other than himself. I’m not making excuses for Cade, he has to be better, but he also needs help. I’ve had about enough of hearing about how Cade is mid and isn’t an All-Star blah blah blah as if turnovers are the only thing that matter. I’m not worried about Cade and these turnovers will start to come down when he isn’t the only one teams have to guard.

It’s Monty Williams!

You can get mad at Monty for not playing Jaden Ivey, though Ivey has been ruled out of the last two games with an illness. That didn’t stop some fans from complaining to me that Williams didn’t play him (insert facepalm emoji). What exactly is Williams supposed to be doing differently other than playing Ivey more minutes? He’s got this team defending at a higher level (still needs massive improvement), and they are buying into his offensive scheme, currently 9th in the NBA in assists per game. Let’s see what this team looks like when the SEVEN players who were out last night come back before we start calling for the winningest coach of the last three years to be fired, shall we? I get being upset at the losses but some of the most negative fans refuse to see any kind of context at all.

It’s Troy Weaver!

Now, you are onto something. I was recently called out on social media for writing an article about Joe Harris being a huge waste of money only four games into the season. Really? Please explain how I am wrong. I’ll wait. Weaver decided to use 60 percent of his available cap space on a guy who is washed instead of someone who can help this team actually win games, which he said repeatedly was the goal this season. Even without splashing out on the top guys (which I am glad he did not do) Weaver could have gotten some veterans that could actually help this team, a massive mistake that looks even worse now that injuries are piling up, one of them being Joe Harris. WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THAT COMING?!? If your season hinges on Joe Harris being healthy and productive at his age, then you have failed as a GM.

Weaver has done a lot of positive things for this team, but his refusal to use his cap space on talent has been his biggest fault. He just keeps punting it down the road, hoping next year will finally be the year it lines up. Call me crazy, but there were guys out there who could have helped the Pistons without breaking the bank, and what is the point of hoarding future cap space if you aren’t going to use it?