Predictions, over/under forecast another miserable season for the Pistons

How the Detroit Pistons fail to win 25 games 

There was talk of the play-in before last season and we all know how that turned out. 

The Pistons lost 28 in a row, were the worst team in the NBA and made no meaningful progress in player development. 

While it’s doubtful things go that bad again, a slow start (with a brutal early schedule) could immediately start to wear on a young team that will be thinking “here we go again” as soon as something goes wrong. 

In the worst-case scenario, the Pistons suffer a significant injury or two that force them into playing wonky lineups. 

And what if the players don’t get better? Development is not a linear process where you can expect a player to be meaningfully better than he was six months ago. If Ivey gets off to a slow start, will his confidence (and trade value) be shot? 

What about Ausar Thompson and his blood clots? Will there be any lingering physical or mental effects? 

Will Cunningham lose interest if the team is bad again? Could he demand to be traded? 

While the Pistons did add some veteran shooters, they are all past their prime and aren’t the kinds of players who are going to move the needle much without leaps from the young guys. 

It’s easy to imagine a world where the Pistons make the kinds of improvements we’ve been waiting for, but we also live in the reality of Detroit’s recent history, so until they show it on the court, they aren’t going to get the benefit of the doubt from anyone.