The Detroit Pistons were bounced from the NBA Cup, but that might not be the worst thing in the world.
I’m sure if you asked the Pistons, they’d tell you they wish they had won that game against the Magic, secured their place in the knockout stage, won again and were on their way to Las Vegas right now.
Instead, they got nearly a week off, which came at the perfect time for the Pistons and makes me wonder if we may see coaches change up their NBA Cup strategy in the future.
Detroit Pistons NBA Cup: Injuries, rest and tanking for time off
While I do like the idea of the NBA Cup, there are some fatal flaws in how it is organized. The first is that there is nothing extra at stake, in fact, you could argue that the teams that win are punished with increased travel and less time off.
Both the Knicks and Magic will be zig zagging across the country, playing an extra game and then jumping right back into the regular season the next night.
For what exactly? No one is hanging an “NBA Cup Champion” banner in their building, so these are just regular season games played on an ugly court that will burn out your retinas if you stare at it too long.
Meanwhile, the teams that lost are enjoying a nice little break at the quarter mark of the season. It’s perfect timing for the Pistons, who are banged up and could use a few days off to get their roster back to full health.
They are also trying to incorporate players like Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser back into the rotation, so some extra practice days are appreciated.
Obviously, teams want to win every game, but there could be some hangover for the teams playing in the NBA Cup, as they have increased travel and less time off. It will be interesting to see how it affects the teams that did make it to Vegas.
It will also be interesting to see if coaches start to approach these games differently. They might not tank outright but might not care too much about losing an NBA Cup game if it means they can get some extra rest for their guys.
As nice as it would have been to win the NBA Cup, it is ultimately not more meaningful than any other regular season game and when it comes to the Pistons, I will gladly trade one loss for nearly a week off at a time when they are scrambling to get their rotation settled.
The NBA may eventually have to make these games worth something, otherwise I do think we’ll see coaches prioritize health and time off over an extra game in Vegas.