We've entered the part of the season when fans of the Detroit Pistons start counting down to the merciful finish.
It's a tradition to watch the Pistons crumble in the home stretch, to start sitting players and waive the white flag as they ensure they end with one of the worst records in the NBA.
It's laughable to use the term "Core Four" or core anything when it comes to this team, as they still haven't played together much and will once again finish the season with a much different roster and starting lineup than the one they started it with.
It's a testament to how poorly this franchise has been run that there is no continuity from season to season or even within a season, as the Pistons are terrible, injury-prone and have finished the last four seasons with guys in the starting five who weren't even on the team when the season began.
Here's a comparison between the beginning and ending starting lineups over the last four seasons, which tells you everything you need to know about the Detroit Pistons and how the rebuild is going.
Detroit Pistons starting lineups over the last four seasons show a team in disarray
2020-21: Record of 20-52
Starting lineup in first game:
-Blake Griffin, Mason Plumlee, Jerami Grant, Killian Hayes, Delon Wright
Starting lineup in final game:
-Saddiq Bey, Killian Hayes, Cory Joseph, Hamidou Diallo, Jahlil Okafor
Wow. Not a single player listed here is even on the Pistons right now and four of them aren't even in the NBA. This was the year before the Pistons completely tore it down, but they finished the season with only one player (Killian Hayes) in the starting five who was there at the beginning.
Hayes, Joseph, Diallo and Okafor can't even find steady work in the NBA, yet they were starters for the Detroit Pistons, which tells you just about everything you need to know about this season.
At least then the rebuild was in its infancy and we still had hope. That didn't last long.
2021-22: Record of 23-59
Starting lineup in first game:
-Saddiq Bey, Jerami Grant, Frank Jackson, Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes
Starting lineup in final game:
-Isaiah Livers, Frank Jackson, Isaiah Stewart, Saddiq Bey, Killian Hayes
Only one player from this group is still on the team, and can we for a second marvel at the fact that the Pistons had Frank Jackson in their starting five at the beginning and end of the season? My god.
Three of these players are no longer in the NBA, making this two years in a row that the Pistons started and finished a season with players who are not at NBA level.
Also, keep in mind that three of these players (plus Saben freaking Lee) were part of the original Core Four that Troy Weaver compared to the Yankees dynasty of the 90s and 2000s. Only one of them (Stewart) is still on the team, Hayes is out of the NBA, Lee might as well be and Saddiq Bey plays for the Hawks.
What a core! That word has ceased to have any meaning.
2022-23: Record of 17-65
Starting lineup in first game:
-Cade Cunningham, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jaden Ivey, Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart
Starting lineup in final game:
-Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, James Wiseman, RJ Hampton
Talk about a drop-off. What started with a promising five of Cade, Ivey, two shooters and Stewart as a small-ball five (novel idea) ended with Killian Hayes, Ivey, two bigs who can't shoot and RJ Hampton, who was not even on the team when the season started and is now in the G-League.
Cunningham didn't finish the season he started and the Pistons shipped Bey off for James Wiseman, beginning the lunacy of using two bigs in the starting five like it is 1990.
Four of these players are no longer on the Pistons and two of them are no longer in the NBA at all. This was year FOUR of the rebuild and the Pistons still had a G-Leaguer and James Wiseman starting for them as it concluded.
2023-24: Record of 12-57 (so far)
Starting lineup in first game:
-Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Ausar Thompson, Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren
Starting lineup now:
-Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Tosan Evbuomwan, Stanley Umude, Jalen Duren
We are now up the present and we're getting more of the same, as the Pistons will once again finish the season with G-Leaguers and/or recently signed players in their starting five.
Cunningham has a chance to start and finish a season for the first time in his career and two of the players they are currently using started the season on two-way contracts.
I suppose we can take some consolation in the fact that three of the alleged "Core Four" (puke) are in the starting five to end the season, while the other has a blood clot and will miss the remainder.
Isaiah Stewart has also been shut down after only playing 46 games, so he'll have played just 96 games in the last two seasons combined.
Whether it is because of injuries, roster churn or just plain terrible play, the Detroit Pistons have had zero continuity over the last four seasons, which is part of the reason we have seen regression instead of growth.
It will happen again next year, as the Pistons will have at least six open roster spots this offseason, so we'll get plenty of new faces and the churn will start again.
Take a look at the consistently good teams and see if they have this kind of turnover from year to year. Yes, the Pistons tore down their roster at the beginning of the rebuild, but they haven't been able to keep the bulk of a team on the floor together in the three years since and have just kept getting worse.
Don't be surprised if we have most of a new starting five to begin next season and be even less surprised when it's not the same one that finishes it.