After starting the season 7-8 and giving fans some hope, the Detroit Pistons have come back to Earth under the weight of familiar problems.
They’ve gone just 3-8 since and have watched some of the early season progress slip away, especially on the defensive end.
We knew this was going to be a transition season, and I don’t think there were many fans that expected much more than what we are getting, which is a wildly inconsistent team that still doesn’t have nearly enough talent to compete with the good teams night in and night out.
There has been some modest improvement this season, but the last 11 games have exposed two brutal truths that have lingered over the Pistons since they drafted Cade Cunningham with the #1 pick back in 2021.
The defensive improvement may have been a mirage
Most of the positives this season have been on the defensive side of the court, as the Pistons are still a below-average offense that scores about the same number of points that they did last season.
After briefly entering the top-10 in defensive rating earlier this season, the Pistons have dropped to 17th in the league, largely due to this 11-game stretch.
They’ve had a defensive rating of 120 in that time, which would be the worst in the NBA over an entire season. They are just 24th in net rating in that span, still can’t defend the 3-point line and still give effort inconsistently, which you can do if you are a team living on the margins.
When you look at the Houston Rockets, who are currently 2nd in the much-better Western Conference, do they really have that much more talent than the Pistons?
Not really, but Houston plays their butts off and has a roster that has developed chemistry that the Pistons haven’t even though the Rockets don’t have a superstar and their leading scorer shoots 39 percent from the floor.
They are showing that effort and chemistry can overcome experience and talent, as Houston could host a playoff series in the first round and not have a single player on the All-Star team.
The Pistons don’t give this effort enough, especially on defense, and until they do, they won’t be able to overcome their limitations.
They also simply need more talent.
The Pistons are still just Cade Cunningham plus some guys running around
We’ve said this every season Cade Cunningham has been in the NBA, but the Pistons still don’t have a legit number two option.
Jaden Ivey was looking like that in the early season, but these last 11 games have reminded fans that he is still wildly inconsistent, as his points, assists and rebounds have all gone down and he is shooting just 40 percent from the floor.
You could make an argument that Malik Beasley has been Cade’s best #2 this season, a guy the Pistons signed late in free agency to a lowball one-year deal.
We’ve seen some signs from guys like Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland II but how many more years will it be before either of them are playing at an All-Star level?
Cade Cunningham may end up making the All-Star team this season and he should, as he’s doing a lot with little to work with.
The Pistons still lack a consistent two-way wing, a drought that goes back to Tayshaun Prince, and there is a strong argument that their current starting small forward is the worst starting wing in the NBA.
The Pistons still need a center, as both their guys have huge flaws and disappear far too often to be considered starting-caliber NBA centers.
The talent gap is too much for the Pistons to make up on most nights, and when they don’t bring 100 percent energy, they get blown off the floor as we have seen recently.
While the best teams have a “Big 3,” the Pistons don’t even have a “Big 2” and their top three guys would rank among the worst trios in the league.
Winning basketball is about talent, effort and team chemistry and right now the Pistons are lacking in all three areas.