The Detroit Pistons were the darlings of the NBA media last season when they tripled their win total from the year before and unexpectedly made the playoffs, but the kid gloves will be off this season.
Winning brings expectations, so there will be increased attention on the young Pistons, who will be getting picked apart in ways they weren’t last season when everyone was just happy they weren’t terrible for the first time in years.
Failing to make the playoffs would be seen as a big disappointment, so the Pistons face a new kind of pressure that will come with increased scrutiny from the media and less patience from the fans, who expect this team to progress.
The Pistons welcome it, as it comes with being good, and they have solid and mature young players who are ready to shoulder the increased pressure. But there will also be loud chatter about other topics that will test their focus.
The Detroit Pistons will dominate the trade rumors
It’s possible that the Pistons will sign extensions with both Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren in the next week, but if they don’t, both young players will enter the season on expiring contracts that will make them restricted free agents.
I am sure there has been plenty of communication between the players and team, but it is something that will potentially be hanging over them, as their futures are less than certain for the first time in their careers.
Their contract situations will have these two in tons of trade rumors, and even if none of them are valid or based on real things, it can be distracting to young players.
Marcus Sasser also has a team option that has to be exercised soon, so the Pistons will potentially have three young players thinking about their next contract.
You also have the inevitable Giannis Antetokounmpo rumors that won’t go away and I am already sick of hearing about Lauri Markkanen, but these are players who will dominate the rumor mill and the Pistons will be one of the teams included.
Players understand how these rumors work and always claim they don’t pay attention but it’s human nature and something new to deal with that there wasn’t as much of last season. That chatter will only get louder if the Pistons don’t extend Ivey and Duren.
Hopefully, they’ll be able to tune out the noise and focus on the task at hand but the Pistons do face new challenges that weren’t there last season.