The Detroit Pistons have already tripled their win total from last season and are not finished yet, as they have their eyes on the 4th seed with seven games left to play.
It’s a far cry from last season, and fans went from wondering whether this roster needs to be blown up to wondering if this team could challenge for a title in the near future.
It’s also had fans dreaming about the offseason addition that might push them there, star names like Devin Booker and Zion Williamson, who can take a good team and make them great.
But the Pistons don’t want to do anything to mess up the team chemistry and the star addition they need may already be on the team.
That’s why the dream offseason for the Pistons may be the most boring one.
The Pistons should run it back
Detroit certainly has weaknesses.
They need more depth at power forward. They could use more shooting, and you could argue that they need another consistent 20+ ppg scorer with Cade Cunningham.
But the Pistons are worth more than the sum of their parts and have found ways to win with defense and team chemistry, two things that are hard to come by and could be wrecked with the wrong trade.
If I were team president, I’d be tempted to just run it back with this same group, to re-sign Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway. Jr and Dennis Schroder to short-term deals and bank on more development from young guys like Ron Holland II, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren.
I’d extend Jaden Ivey and Duren to the friendliest deals they will sign and hope that the return of Ivey is equivalent to adding another star. If Ivey can give you 20 a game for half the price of a guy like Booker, then he's a far better value.
Trading away three or more players (which is what it would take) to go after a superstar would not only hurt the depth but also the team chemistry.
The Pistons have nothing to lose by being patient
Everyone has been waiting for OKC to make a big move at some point, as they have a ton of draft assets and young players, enough to land a superstar. But they haven’t, and they have the best record in the league behind SGA, their defense and depth.
The Pistons aren’t there yet but have a chance to be, as they already have the superstar in place, a burgeoning defensive culture and some quality depth.
Every team could use more talent, so I’m not suggesting the Pistons do nothing next summer, only that it doesn’t hurt them to be patient.
Even if things didn’t work out, the Pistons wouldn’t be any worse off, as their young guys have all proven themselves to be at least quality rotation players and their value isn’t going to go down just because they are under longer contracts.
The star trades will be there, and there may be a time when it makes sense, but right now, it just doesn’t.
That’s why I expect and hope the Pistons do what OKC did last summer, which is add more quality depth and role players to a talented team instead of selling out the roster for one guy.
Detroit isn’t that far away from competing for a title and doesn’t need monumental change to get there, so while it may not make for great content in the offseason, my hope is that the Pistons have a relatively boring one in which they retain their guys and add 1-2 complementary role players.