The Detroit Pistons have been one of the best stories in the NBA this season, as they have gone from historically bad to a team above .500 in January, by far the biggest improvement in the league.
But in wider league narratives, it’s the OKC Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers that are the big stories, as they are a combined 67-11 and leading their respective conferences by 6.5 and six games, respectively.
And it’s the way they have done it that is starting to get notice, especially as teams try to adjust to the new tax apron rules that have made it harder to have a top-heavy roster and still have enough depth to compete.
Thunder and Cavaliers doing it with stars and quality depth
OKC and Cleveland are two teams with similar construction, as they are built around defense and quality depth, not just superstars at the top.
OKC has one superstar in Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, who might be the MVP this season, two All-Star level talents in Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams, then a bunch of very good role players.
They identified their superstar and then used the draft and free agency to add players to complement him. The Thunder have a ton of draft assets and young players and no team in the NBA has more to offer in a trade, yet they have resisted the urge to trade in some of their depth for more star power.
Having so many solid players allows them to play a relentless style and have the ability to absorb injuries as they arise.
The same can be said for Cleveland, who brought in the superstar in Donovan Mitchell to complement the All-Star level talents they had already drafted in Darius Garland and Evan Mobley.
Add in Jarrett Allen and they have a very good top-four, but like OKC, their strength is in the quality depth behind them, guys like Isaac Okoro, Caris LeVert and Ty Jerome.
You could argue that these are “super” teams, but most of their talent was acquired through the draft, not in trades and free agency, which allowed them to have deeper rosters with more quality depth.
When you look at the remaining “super” teams like the 76ers and Suns, they are struggling with top-heavy rosters that have no depth and no ability to withstand injuries.
And because of the tax apron rules, they have no flexibility, which will make it challenging to improve their underperforming teams without selling off their superstars and starting over.
We are going to see more teams avoiding these types of top-heavy rosters with no depth, as one injury can derail everything.
How this can benefit the Detroit Pistons
The Pistons are a far cry from OKC or Cleveland when it comes to talent and depth, but they have a good start.
They have identified their superstar in Cade Cunningham and have some intriguing talents in Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland II and Jalen Duren.
Cunningham doesn’t have a Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, Darius Garlend (Ivey was getting there), Evan Mobley or Jarrett Allen, but one or more of his young teammates could get there with time and patience, OKC didn’t build this juggernaut overnight, they stuck with their young guys, let them develop and then added the right pieces around them.
This means drafting well, which Trajan Langdon has done in his career so far. It means developing players, not just star guys, but role players like Aaron Wiggins, Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Cason Wallace.
It means not making big trades just to make them, avoiding poison contracts and not sacrificing depth for the sake of a more well-known name. It means only adding players who complement your superstar and the 2-3 All-Star level talents around him, it means building an actual team, not just a collection of star names.
The Detroit Pistons are on the right path, now they just need to identify the best players to complement Cunningham, keep developing, keep building and trying to have the deepest roster possible.
The tax aprons may kill the super team and that’s a good thing for the Pistons, whose titles were won not just on star power but also the quality depth behind them and aren't a team that is going to draw big-name free agents anyway.