At this time I am writing this, your Detroit Pistons are not the worst team in the NBA. Should we raise a banner?
That dubious monicker briefly belongs to the Washington Wizards, though with the Pistons playing the 2nd-seed Cleveland Cavaliers tonight, it will likely be short-lived.
The Cavaliers are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference, but it wasn't always that way. Just three seasons ago, they were at the bottom with the Pistons, but have since won more games every season and are a contender, where Detroit dreams of being.
So how can the Pistons get there? Easy, just follow the Cavaliers.
The Detroit Pistons need stability and improvement at head coach
The Cavaliers hired J.B. Bickerstaff as their head coach before the 2020-21 season and he went 22-50 that year, not the start he was looking for.
He has since won 44 and 51 games and is on his way to another 50-win season this year.
The Pistons' hire of Monty Williams has not gone as well, as the team is worse this year and is likely to end the season with the worst record in franchise history.
Monty doesn't deserve ALL of the blame (a lot of it, but not all) just as Bickerstaff can't take all of the credit for his team's ascension. Rosters obviously matter more than coaches and Cleveland has built a good one while Troy Weaver was hatching brilliant plans to trade for Marvin Bagley III and Joe Harris.
The Pistons need a coach who can evolve and grow with the roster, make adjustments, figure out a rotation of players that complement each other and work through the challenges it presents.
Bickerstaff has done that, as his roster has plenty of challenging elements. Williams has some of the same obstacles, but will he be able to overcome them?
It starts with building a team ethos.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are built around defense
The Detroit Pistons paid lip service to building around defense this season, but that didn't happen, as they are worse than last season, allowing over 121 points per game, which is 27th in the league.
Defense is down around the league as offense continues to explode, an issue the NBA needs to work on in the offseason.
But when you look at the teams in the top playoff seeds, all of them are good defensively, including the Cavaliers, who allow just 109 points per game, second-best in the league.
Defense is still the path to the playoffs, even in the era of offense.
So how do the Pistons get there?
It starts with their bigs, as Cleveland's defense is built around Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, two versatile defenders who can protect the rim and switch on the perimeter.
The Pistons have one such player in Isaiah Stewart, though he's not nearly as good as either Mobley or Allen and the book is still out on Jalen Duren, who is only 20 years old.
For the Pistons to make a leap, they have to get better on defense and that starts with Duren giving consistent, impactful effort on that end. You could argue that Duren's defense is the single biggest factor when it comes to Detroit turning things around, a lot to put on the shoulders of a kid who isn't old enough to buy a beer.
The Pistons now have some wings in Ausar Thompson and Quentin Grimes who are plus defenders, but until they have those anchors down low, it won't matter.
Figuring out two bigs
Fans of the Detroit Pistons have argued ad nauseam about whether Duren and Stewart should be playing together as two bigs who aren't dynamic offensively, but the Cavaliers are showing it can work.
Neither Allen nor Mobley are great outside shooters, though Mobley can step out and hit a jumper. They don't shoot many threes and Stewart has been a far better 3-point shooter than either of them.
This goes back to the last point, as the reason Mobley and Allen can work is that they play elite defense and are surrounded by two star guards and a shooter.
This is where the Pistons run into trouble; if they put Ausar Thompson in the starting five, the offensive spacing suffers, but if they take one of him or Stewart out of it, the defense falls apart.
This could be solved by bringing Ausar or Stewart off the bench in favor of Simone Fontecchio, which then gives the Pistons a starting five similar to the one Cleveland runs out.
But the key to all of this working comes back to defense, as the Pistons can take the offensive hit if they are playing elite D, and right now, they are far from it.
Detroit Pistons: Figuring out two star guards
Like the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Detroit Pistons are trying to build their offense around two star guards who like to have the ball in their hands in Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.
Again, Cleveland is showing this can work. Mitchell is the alpha dog, scoring 28 per game with a 31.8 usage rate. It's Garland who has had to sacrifice some of his stats, as his scoring (18ppg) has dropped slightly from the last two seasons and he has a usage rate of 25.4 percent.
So between the two of them, the ball is in one of their hands most of the time and coach Bickerstaff does this wild thing where he sometimes staggers the two and lets Garland be the primary guy. Crazy idea I know.
Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey can have the same kind of relationship and synergy, as Cade is the clear alpha dog and Ivey is right behind him. The one big difference is that Mitchell is a high-volume 3-point shooter, as he and Garland average over 15 combined attempts per game while Cade and Ivey are taking just nine between them.
Cleveland's 3-point shooting from their guards helps to alleviate spacing issues, so you could argue that the Pistons need a few more attempts per game from their duo.
They are both improving in that area and this is a pairing that can work for Detroit if they fire a few more 3's per game and Monty Williams figures out how to stagger them to get the most out of each of their respective abilities.
The Cavaliers built through the draft but went out and got their star
The Cavaliers built a good part of their foundation through the draft, just like the Pistons, but when the time was right, they pounced and got star Donovan Mitchell.
Getting Mitchell was the biggest factor in their ascent, as the Cavs wouldn't be where they are right now without him.
The Pistons aren't likely to get a Donovan Mitchell this offseason, and you could argue this is not the time to try, as there aren't any elite free agents and Detroit does not have the assets to pursue someone of Mitchell's status.
But there will be stars available this summer and if the Pistons do it right, they could land one. Detroit needs an elite two-way wing or power forward and there are a few interesting players who could be on the market.
They aren't likely to get a player that will make an impact like Mitchell made for Cleveland, but if they can supplement their draft picks with a star, we could see the Pistons make the leap into playoff contention next season just as the Cavs did when they got Mitchell.
Even though one team is near the top, and the other near the bottom the Cavs and Pistons have plenty in common and Detroit can follow their blueprint.