There is only one date that fans of the Detroit Pistons need to circle on their calendar: April 15th.
The 15th is the first day of the offseason and the first time for owner Tom Gores to reflect on what happened and make decisions for the future.
With a bottom-three record all but locked up, the end is nigh, but there are some things to look forward to when the calendar reaches the end of April.
April 15th marks the end of the Detroit Pistons 2023-24 season
This season has been a disaster from top to bottom, made even more painful by the fact that it wasn't supposed to be this way, at least according to the Pistons' front office.
Most fans would have accepted a competitive losing record, visible player development and chemistry from their young players and a clear path to a better future.
Instead, we've been treated to a record-setting losing streak, and nearly non-stop dysfunction from the front office to the coaching staff. With only eight players under contract for next season, there is still no clear direction and it's debatable whether the young players have learned anything other than how to lose.
But don't worry, it's almost over and it can't come soon enough.
And once it is, the Detroit Pistons, Monty Williams, Troy Weaver and Tom Gores have some decisions to make.
Some deep reflection from and about Monty Williams
I don't put this catastrophic season all on coach Williams, as he was never given a coherent roster or a clear plan for the future.
But some of it has to go on his shoulders as the head coach of a team that has gotten worse coming off a 17-win season. The bar for success for Williams was set so low this season, as no one expected the Pistons to make the playoffs, but we did expect improvement from what was the second-worst season in franchise history.
That hasn't happened, partly because of some of the baffling choices made by Pistons' leader. From benching Jaden Ivey to his nonsensical rotations, to slow adjustments and his insistence on continuing to do what isn't working, Williams has drawn the ire of fans and national commentators alike.
April 15th will be the first time Monty can sit down and reflect on how it went so wrong and what he can do to fix it. He'll also have a chance to spend time with his family and think about whether he wants to do this again.
He's under contract, of course, but if Williams decided he wanted out, I'm sure some kind of buyout could be arranged, as Tom Gores is used to flushing his money down the toilet and doesn't seem to care.
Gores will also have to think about whether it was a mistake to hire a person who didn't want the job and had to be bribed to take it, and whether Williams is now a sunk cost that he'd be better off absorbing.
But Monty isn't the only person who will have a big think on April 15th.
Will Troy Weaver be back for the Detroit Pistons?
You can't blame Monty Williams without also pointing a finger at Troy Weaver, the GM who built this roster.
By now, we all know the big mistakes Weaver made when he did next to nothing to improve the roster in the offseason, an admitted mistake.
We also have to speculate if the moves he made at the trade deadline made the roster better or just different.
He has to come up with a concrete plan from day one on how to improve this roster and do it quickly without sacrificing their long-term future.
He'll be under huge pressure to make a splash and his seat is warm at this point, which is a dangerous place for a team to be in.
But is that position dangerous enough that Tom Gores will fire Troy Weaver? There's been no indication of it yet, and Weaver was allowed to make a flurry of trade deadline moves, which tells me he'll probably be back.
I don't know if there is a number Gores has in mind when it comes to wins or if he'll be looking for things like competitiveness and body language from his team in the final games before deciding if he wants to run it back with a GM and coach who have led to the worst team in franchise history.
But April 15th will be the time for reflection from everyone involved. Is it time for a fresh start and does that mean starting from square one?
April 15th is a time for more hope
Fans of the Detroit Pistons have to feel like donkeys chasing a carrot at this point, as we've been sold on hope for the last four years and counting.
The restoration has not happened, but the Pistons do have some bright spots. They also have a ton of cap space, will likely have a top-5 or six pick and will have open roster spots to add impact talent.
If this sounds familiar it's because it is the same line we've been fed since Troy Weaver first took the podium and used the word "restoration."
But at this point, hope is all we have.
And there are reasons to be hopeful about a promising young core with ways to supplement it with talent. There is also recent evidence that teams can go from the cellar to the playoffs quickly in the NBA, or at least from the cellar to competitiveness.
It's not much to bank on, but there could be big change on the horizon for the Detroit Pistons from the top down, but first, this miserable season has to die a dishonorable death so we can mercifully move on.