We spent most of the offseason talking about the new additions to the Detroit Pistons, guys like Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Ron Holland II.
But this offseason was really more about addition by subtraction, as the Pistons canned their front office along with the coaching staff and trimmed some of the fat off the roster.
Last season was a lesson in misery, as we watched a bad team go through the motions of losing with all of the energy of kids showing up to the dentist.
The Pistons need to hose off the stink of last season and got a good start by getting rid of some of the problem actors. Regardless of what happens next season, I will be happy to never have to see these things again.
#1: Monty Williams’ blank stare
Monty Williams often watched games from the sideline like a man who was watching his house burn down and knew the firefighters weren’t coming to save it. He was helpless to stop the carnage and never looked all that interested in trying, as he had a fat insurance policy on the house in the form of huge contract that he will continue to collect for the next six years.
I have no problem with Williams personally, and do not blame all of last season on him, but it never seemed like he wanted to be in Detroit and clearly wasn’t prepared at the start of last season. The results speak for themselves, as Williams never figured out a steady rotation, set the NBA record for a losing streak in a single season, ended with the fewest wins in franchise history and got fired.
I can’t guarantee JB Bickerstaff will get this team where we want it to be, but he already seems more excited for the job and I can guarantee we’ll get more passion and fewer blank stares from the sidelines.
#2: Bojan Bogdanovic’s defense
Everyone knows the Pistons are not a marquee free-agent destination, so they have to acquire talent via the draft, trades and hoping some past-their-prime veterans decide to play out their dotage in Detroit.
Bogdanovic was traded to the Pistons, and he did play hard, as he is a professional, but Father Time is undefeated and there comes a time when effort no longer gets it done.
Bogdanovic wasn’t an awful defender for most of his career, as he is a smart player who always gave effort on that end, but by the time he came to Detroit, the legs no longer obeyed his commands.
While he could still knock down a shot, he couldn’t stay in front of anyone, which caused the Pistons all sorts of trouble on the wing and the paint. The Pistons’ bigs took a lot of flak for their lack of rim protection and defense in the paint, but a lot of that was on the perimeter players, who often let their man blow by them without resistance.
No offense to Bogey, but it will be nice not to have to watch his slew footed defense, and hopefully having more athleticism on the wing will help the Pistons’ big men be in better position to defend the paint.
#3: James Wiseman flashing potential
This one may seem odd, but the most frustrating thing about James Wiseman was that he would occasionally do something that few humans on planet earth can do.
There is no doubt he has unreal athleticism and all of the tools to be a good basketball player, and every now and then he would show them and give fans hope that he could be the guy teams thought he was in the 2020 draft.
Mostly we saw a guy who was always lost on defense, a step behind, out of position and making bad decisions about when to try and block shots. It was common to see a guy dunking as Wiseman was coming down from his jump after biting on a pump fake.
Mostly we saw a guy who fouled like an old guy at a park pickup game, who turned the ball over a ton, who never developed any kind of offense more than an inch from the rim.
We saw a guy who rarely held screens long enough for them to work, who rarely impacted the game positively on either end. We saw a guy who was one of the worst players in the NBA last season and I am glad we won’t have to see him in a Pistons’ uniform again.
#4: Troy Weaver awkwardly “ummm”-ing his way through a press conference
A lot of people aren’t good at public speaking, so I would never hold that against anyone, but Troy Weaver took it to new levels.
He spoke in mumbled platitudes and made promises that were never kept. He never had answers but just kept telling fans to be patient and that better days were coming.
He talked about his team in ways that didn’t fit the reality fans were seeing, often citing progress that was never really there.
There was always something vaguely arrogant about Weaver, as if he knew something no one else did, as if he were the smartest man in the room and we were all just trying to keep up.
But for all of the talk of his gifts as a talent evaluator, it never came, as he took chances on busts, drafted guys who weren’t fits with his franchise player and added salary dumps that gained the team practically nothing.
I am happy to never have to watch another Troy Weaver press conference again, not because he was an awkward speaker, but because his words never had any meaning.
#5: Killian Hayes
No player represents the failures of the past four seasons and the previous regime more than Killian Hayes, who I am happy to never see play basketball in a Pistons’ uniform again.
It wasn’t just that he was a historically bad shooter, or that his defense and “elite” passing were fantasies in the minds of his weird fans, it was his whole aura.
I hated watching Hayes walk the ball up the floor, his casual handles, the way he looked as if he was just going through the motions while trying to look good. It was like he was a model for a basketball commercial instead of a real player.
I don’t blame him for the Pistons missing on Tyrese Haliburton, but it was tough to watch Hayes regress every season while Hali turned into an All-Star.
Hayes is the first player I’ve ever seen airball a four-foot floater and for all of the talk about his defense, he never played it at a high level consistently and put out more “show” hustle than the real thing.
I don’t want to pile on the guy and hope he makes it in Brooklyn, but I hated watching him play and am glad not to have to do it anymore.