Some light at the end of the tunnel for the Detroit Pistons

It’s hard to look at the Detroit Pistons’ 2-13 record and say anything has gone right this season.

But the rookies are good, Cade Cunningham has started to make the star turn we need him to make, Isaiah Stewart has shot the ball better than expected and Marvin Bagley III is probably playing the best basketball of his career.

So there will be some things to hang their hats on if this team can ever get healthy, which has been the story of the season so far.

The Detroit Pistons have lost the most games and minutes to injury in the NBA this season, as two of their key veterans (Monte Morris and Bojan Bogdanovic) haven’t even played yet, Isaiah Livers made his debut last night, Alec Burks has missed games, Jaden Ivey missed time with an illness and Jalen Duren has been sidelined with an ankle injury.

They’ve been bad too (just ask Cade Cunningham), so injuries can’t be blamed for all of this, but it’s hard to fully evaluate the roster when all of the veterans are on the bench, leaving the Pistons with a young team that makes a ton of mistakes.

I don’t believe that Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris and Isaiah Livers are going to make them good, but they can certainly close some space between good and worst team in the NBA.

We may find out soon.

The Detroit Pistons are getting closer to healthy

The Pistons have the youngest starting lineup in the NBA but it wasn’t supposed to be that way. 34-year-old Bojan Bogdanovic was the professional who was supposed to help hold this young team down, but he’s only been able to offer advice from the bench.

Same with Monte Morris, who was supposed to help lead the second unit, but we’ve yet to see him either.

But according to James Edwards III of The Athletic (SUBSCRIPTION) we could finally see the Pistons getting some of these guys back as early as next week:

"“The real evaluation begins when the rest, or most of, the names who have been sidelined return, which I’m hearing could be as early as next week. ”"

Unfortunately, the Detroit Pistons may have already set the franchise record for consecutive losses by then, but at least it gives us something to look forward to as fans.

So there is light at the end of the tunnel, and soon we’ll be able to get a better understanding of what this team can be and what they need moving forward. It’s not too late to save this season, as the Pistons didn’t enter it thinking playoffs, they entered it hoping to be competitive, to build winning habits in their young players and to see what types of veterans best complement them.

Those goals are still alive and I look forward to what this team can do at full strength. Of course, once they are, that excuse is over, so let’s hope they start looking like a competent NBA basketball team or they have even tougher questions to answer.