Detroit Pistons' report card for January: The rise to mediocrity

Overall: C+

Detroit finished with a win percentage of .25 in the month of January. That is still horrendous. But, given how this team has played this season thus far, 3-12 isn’t too bad. It makes sense that their monthly grade increased, if even just slightly. Jaden Ivey and Alec Burks had incredible months, Jalen Duren’s play remained constant, but was available for many more games in January, and Detroit added two veteran floor spacers while subtracting one of the worst plus/minus players eating up minutes. Those facts alone make this a better team than in December. 

And I know what everyone is thinking. C+ is damn near a B, and a team that has just three wins in an entire month doesn’t deserve a B. While I agree, it’s important to realize that these monthly grades are comparing Detroit’s players on whether they’ve improved compared to last month. I think it’s safe to say almost all Pistons improved from November to December, and then December to January. I would expect the addition of the floor spacing Muscala and Gallinari to continue adding a few wins for this team.

Next month will include the trade deadline, so this roster may look quite a bit different. We will have to wait and see if there are any more moves made, and whether those moves can continue to increase the grades for each position group.