Pistons news: “We’re bad,” 3 presidents and the Bojan gap

I keep thinking the Detroit Pistons have hit rock bottom, but then they miraculously manage to find a new low.

Last night’s loss to the Raptors was an evisceration I’d rather forget, a game the Pistons never led, a game they never had a chance to win, a game in which they were down by 40 points at one stage.

The Raptors not only shot 54 percent on their way to 142 points, but took 19 more shots than the Pistons and had a team-record 44 assists. They moved the ball well and Detroit stood there and mostly watched them take wide-open shots like it was a shoot-around.

Detroit’s own offense was somehow even worse than the defense, as they mostly stood around (a theme here) watching Cade Cunningham dribble the ball. There was no discernable strategy at all, and I’ve seen more chemistry at pick-up games full of strangers.

Which some of these players were, to be fair, as the Pistons grabbed Kevin Knox off the street and have already put him in the starting lineup. It’s wild that a player who wasn’t even on the roster at the beginning of the season is good enough to be in the starting five in the 14th game of the season. Troy Weaver wasted $20 million on Joe Harris when he could have just had Kevin Knox for practically nothing from the beginning.

The Pistons’ Restoration vs. the 76ers’ Process

If you want to know how bad it is for Detroit, this is now their 3rd 11-game losing streak of the calendar year. They’ve won exactly two games since Troy Weaver’s famous letter to the fans and have a net rating that is among the worst in NBA history. Since 2019, the Pistons are 82-233 a .260 winning percentage that is by far the worst in the league, 27 games worse than the Rockets during that time.

The Pistons would need to win 14 games to pass The Process-era 76ers (widely regarded as the worst teams in NBA history) and avoid having the worst four-year stretch in the modern NBA.

Even The Process Philly team won 28 games in the 4th year, the Pistons are currently on pace to win 10 in year four. In case you think I’m just picking on Troy Weaver’s roster, it’s not just him, as the Pistons are 446-745 over the last 15 years, worst in the NBA, and the last time they won a playoff game, some guy called George W. Bush was president. If you are counting, it’s been three presidents since the Pistons won a playoff game.

This is taking its toll, not just on fans who are already tapping out in droves, but on the players, and even coach Monty Williams, who is probably starting to look at his contract as a well-paid sentence.