The fanbase was begging for Trajan Langdon to make a move ahead of February's NBA trade deadline, one that would help the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference be prepared when the postseason came around.
Despite holding the top spot in the Eastern Conference for the majority of the season, there were plenty of warning signs that the team chose to ignore.
The main thing that makes the team's questionable decision sting even more is the fact that the San Antonio Spurs took the same approach, and they now find themselves in the NBA Finals.
Spurs took the same approach at the deadline and it worked for them
San Antonio dealt with the same heat leading up to the trade deadline, as many believed that even with their spot at the top of the Western Conference standings, they stood no chance against the reigning NBA Champions.
To say the Spurs didn't listen to the outside noise in the slightest would be an understatement, considering San Antonio opted to not only choose against making a sizable move, but to hold out on making a trade entirely.
Fast forward to the playoffs, Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs silenced the critics, suggesting they missed an opportunity to improve their roster at the trade deadline, by fighting their way through the gauntlet in the West, which included knocking out the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals.
For Detroit, though, it's clear that their decision to only add Kevin Huerter did them no favor.
Of course, there was no way to expect Jalen Duren's production to fall off a cliff when the postseason arrived, but given that the Pistons were already playing with fire by ignoring the warnings was a risk the team was prepared to take.
Pistons have to learn from their mistakes
The Pistons need to learn from their mistake and prepare to be more proactive than reactive moving forward.
Now that doesn't mean Detroit should make reckless decisions, but instead, they should be aggressive when they see an opportunity.
There's no saying that a trade for someone like Trey Muprhy III was feasible at the time, but several notable players being moved like Coby White, Jared McCain, and even Ayo Dosunmu, there were opportunities for the Pistons to improve that Langdon and his staff simply ignored.
An argument can be made that even these moves wouldn't have helped the Pistons knock off the New York Knicks, but as the top seed in your respective conference, it feels like Detroit could've capitalized on the opportunity when they had the chance to improve.
Then again, with the same strategy working out in the Spurs' favor, it feels like Detroit has to realize that they simply just weren't as close as they hoped they were.
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