The Detroit Pistons have had poor injury luck which has threatened their chances in the playoffs, but fans shouldn’t lose sight of the bigger picture, which is still entirely optimistic.
The Pistons have outperformed most predictions this season, which made the recent devastating injury to Cade Cunningham even more painful. I’ve already seen fans moaning that this is a “lost season” and coming for Trajan Langdon’s head over his inactivity at the trade deadline.
On one hand, I get this, as there is some urgency for the Pistons to win. The Eastern Conference is wide open, and the San Antonio Spurs haven’t completely taken over the Western Conference yet, which feels like an inevitability with Victor Wembanyama.
We could very well look back on this season and think it was the Pistons’ best shot to win, but don’t count on it, as this team is far from a finished product and is only going to get better, which is something the rest of the teams in the East can’t say.
The Pistons’ window is opening just as others are starting to close
This is only the second year the Pistons have made the playoffs with this group, so it’s just the beginning of what will hopefully be long-term sustained success in the Eastern Conference.
There isn’t a ton of pressure for the Pistons to win this season and if they were to make a good showing in the playoffs, most sane fans would be happy, as it would show progress and no one in their right mind expected the Pistons to win a title this season.
That’s not true of teams like the Cavaliers and Knicks, who may have to consider serious changes if they come up short again, as they may never be better than they are right now, and have rosters that are already painfully expensive.
Detroit isn’t in that space yet, so is still playing with house money while some of their key rivals are in championship or bust mode.
The Pistons aren’t near their primes
Three years from now, Cade Cunningham will be 27, Jalen Duren will be 25, Ausar Thompson 26 and Ron Holland II will only be 23 years old, so even three years from now, most of this core will just be entering their prime years.
We have no idea what this will look like, but all signs are positive thus far, as every one of these guys has improved and will keep improving. We may see a version of Ausar Thompsons whose offense has caught up to his defense. Ron Holland may be hitting 40 percent of his corner 3’s.
Jalen Duren, who is younger than many of the players participating in March Madness and has already played four seasons in the NBA with an All-Star appearance, could be at a completely different level after the leap we’ve seen this season.
It’s easy to lose sight of this during a long season in which expectations have shifted and risen, but the Pistons are in great shape for the future, as they are already very good now and are not even close to their peaks, a fact that should terrify the rest of the NBA.