After finishing sixth in the Eastern Conference last year, the Detroit Pistons are far from guaranteed a playoff spot going into next season.
They likely have their eyes set on an even higher seed next year as some teams above them have had their rosters decimated by injuries and offseason departures. At the same time, they are sure to be cautious of other young teams who upgraded this offseason in the Magic and Hawks. But there is one surprising team that could make a leap similar to the Pistons last year and become a rival in the East: the Charlotte Hornets.
Could the Hornets be the next Pistons?
The Hornets have the worst record in the league over the last three seasons and have won just 27.2 percent of their games in that span. However, they may be sneakily ready to turn a corner. In every rebuild, there comes a time when a franchise needs to determine if a young star is truly worth building around or if they should go in a different direction. For the Pistons, this decision was made last season by surrounding Cade Cunningham with credible veterans in his supporting cast for the first time in his career. Cade rose to the occasion and led the Pistons to the playoffs for the first time in years while securing himself an All-NBA spot.
It’s high time that the Hornets do the same with LaMelo Ball. Despite being drafted a year earlier than Cade, LaMelo’s future as the face of his franchise is actually less certain. He has made an All-Star team (in just his second season no less) when the Hornets went 43-39 in 2021-22, but has been plagued by injuries and poor roster construction since then.
The last three years of LaMelo’s career are similar to the first three years of Cade’s career (2021-24, culminating in a 14-win season). Individually, he has put up impressive numbers but there are questions about how it can translate to a serious team. Last year, Ball put up over 25 points and seven assists per game and even had 50 points in a game.
But the Hornets seem to be taking steps to turn it around and see if LaMelo can prove to be a winning NBA player. Similar to the Pistons’ approach last offseason, they have acquired veterans to add leadership to their locker room in the form of Collin Sexton, Spencer Dinwiddie and even Pat Connaughton - a former champion who probably won’t touch the court much but can show the young guys how to win. They also drafted players who are ready to contribute right away rather than chasing raw prospects like they have in the past. This was immediately obvious at Summer League, where #4 overall pick Kon Knueppel led them to the Vegas Summer League title.
I don’t know if we can expect a turnaround as drastic as the Pistons just had, but the Hornets are definitely shaping up to be much better next season. The Pistons should not be sleeping on a potential new rival in an ever-dynamic Eastern Conference.