Matty Writes Sports

Over the last 5 seasons, from the 2019-2020 NBA Season, to the latest, the 2023-24 campaign, the Detroit Pistons have amassed a record of 94-290, or, a winning percentage of .245 having played 384 NBA Games in that timespan.

The Pistons have been a team stuck in the pits of the NBA since 2019, when Tom Gores decided to commence the self destruction of the roster. Over the past 5 years, the state of Detroit Basketball has been nothing but despair and embarrassment, 5 years that finally culminated in a 14-68 record in the 2023-2024 Season.

This was the worst record in franchise history, and one of the worst NBA single season records in the history of the Association. With only 14 wins and another unwanted NBA Record, the longest single season losing streak in history was set. From October 30th, to December 30th, the Pistons lost a whopping twenty-eight consecutive games. From a 2-1 record and victories over the Charlotte Hornets and the Chicago Bulls, to a 2-29 record by the end of December, before the streak finally came to an end after defeating the injury stricken Toronto Raptors, who had just traded OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa in a blockbuster deal to the New York Knicks.

Still, the Pistons didn’t care. They had finally ended their losing streak, the worst streak in NBA History. Despite this, for the remainder of the season, the squad limped along to the Franchise’s worst record in history, with a big summer ahead to try and rectify the team’s issues.

First step: Coaching.

In the 2023 Offseason, the Pistons decided to hire recently fired Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams to lead the franchise into the future. A six year deal was offered to the man who led the Suns to their first NBA Finals since 1993, and, there was optimism for the future in Detroit. Williams was highly regarded in Phoenix and his firing came as a shock to many around the league, especially as the Suns’ new look squad with Kevin Durant had not entirely gelled by the time he was relieved of his duties.

Safe to say the Monty Williams experiment was an unprecedented disaster in Detroit; throughout the season, he employed several puzzling lineups, including running all bench lineups in crucial stretches of games, starting Killian Hayes until he was eventually waived in February and limiting the minutes of some of Detroit’s younger players like Ausar Thompson and Jaden Ivey.

Trajan Langdon had a decision to make. And he made the decision to fire Monty after only one year of his six year deal.

To replace the outgoing coach, Langdon eventually settled on another coach who had been recently fired, this time J.B Bickerstaff, who had been relieved of his duties by the Cleveland Cavaliers following their playoff exit to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Semis. The move even mirrored the hiring of Monty 12 months earlier; both head coaches who had been fired after second round exits to the eventual NBA Champions.

Still though, there is optimism in Detroit. Bickerstaff has proved himself as a solid coach with the Cavaliers, leading them from a 22-50 record in the COVID shortened 2020-21 Season, to 3 consecutive playoff berths in the next 3 years. Bickerstaff is a steady hand who will help the Pistons to escape the basement of the NBA and further up the Eastern Conference Standings, and potentially even to a post-season berth further down the line.

Second on the agenda: The NBA Draft.

Despite having the worst record in the league for the second consecutive year, the Pistons, for the second consecutive year, fell all the way to the fifth pick. Granted, falling to the 5th pick in this year’s draft is far less devastating than missing out on one of the most insane prospects that we have ever seen in Victor Wembanyama, it still makes helping Detroit escape hell much more difficult. In last year’s draft, the team had to settle for Ausar Thompson, who showed the potential to be a lockdown defender and rebounder at the Small Forward position, despite having below average shooting ability.

This year, Trajan Langdon decided to use their 5th overall pick to obtain Ron Holland from the NBA G League Ignite. Holland had averaged over 18ppg for the Ignite, however, his fit with the team isn’t exactly ideal. The Pistons ranked 26th overall in the league in terms of 3 point percentage over the last campaign, and, Holland shot 24% from beyond the arc in his sole season for the Ignite, which will do nothing to help Detroit’s clear spacing problems, despite his well polished post and mid range game.

Next on the to-do list: Free Agency

The Pistons had money to spend. A lot of money, and money that they needed to spend to be able to comply with the new Salary Cap rules (similar to what the Rockets had to do last offseason.) Their big money signing at the beginning of Free Agency was Tobias Harris, who had played for the franchise between 2016-2018, before spending a year in Los Angeles with the Clippers and a 5 year tenure with the Sixers.

Alhough Harris was certainly overpaid in Philadelphia, the 2 year, $52 million deal to bring Harris to Detroit is one which, I think will prove beneficial to the Pistons in the long run. He will provide a solid veteran presence for a team that consists almost entirely of young players on their rookie deals, and, Harris is still a reliable NBA player, despite the fact that his final years in Philly weren’t exactly positive ones for him.

Secondly, the Detroit Pistons acted quickly to secure the long term future of Cade Cunningham, their number 1 overall draft pick from 2021. With a 5 year, $224 million contract, the Pistons secured their point guard of the future. With season averages of 22.7ppg on 45% shooting, Cunningham was one of the only bright spots of the previous campaign, especially as he had returned from a long term injury, and the Pistons will be glad that the former Oklahoma State Cowboy will be sticking around for the long run.

The Pistons also signed up Italian wing Simone Fontecchio, who had been acquired in a trade with the Utah Jazz at the trade deadline. A 2 year, $16 million deal was inked by former Jazzman, a deal that I thought was too cheap for a player of Fontecchio’s skills. He averaged over 15ppg since joining the Pistons in early February, and, with a larger role than he was handed in Utah, the man from Pescara will be hoping to prove that he did deserve more.

Secondly, Langdon traded Quentin Grimes, who they had acquired from the New York Knicks in a deal that sent Bojan Bogdanovic to NYC, was then dealt to Dallas, with Tim Hardaway Jr, arriving in Motown, along with three future second rounders. Grimes had barely played in Detroit, and, despite a less than stellar playoff outing for the Mavericks, Hardaway Jr. is another player that provides a steady hand at shooting guard. Considering Grimes only played 6 games for the Pistons, getting him off of the books will be a success for Detroit, especially whilst adding second rounders that could be used in future acquisitions in the future.

To alleviate their shooting woes, Malik Beasley was brought in from Milwaukee. Beasley, a career 38% 3 point shooter comes with more veteran presence and the shooting ability to help provide spacing for key players Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren, especially coming off of a year where he averaged over 41% from behind the arc with the Bucks. Additonally, Paul Reed was claimed off of waivers after he was cut by the Sixers, and he will be an interesting player to watch in Detroit. Certainly more interesting than Marvin Bagley or James Wiseman, who had suited up too often for the Pistons last season.

Additionally, Wendell Moore Jr and Bobi Klintman were acquired from the Timberwolves in exchange for virtually nothing. Moore, a former first rounder in 2022 rarely saw the floor for Minnesota in 2 years there, and will be hoping to find his feet in the NBA, whilst Klintman was the 45th overall pick, being another young gun that Detroit could utilise in the future.

Season Outlook:

It would take something special to top the disaster of the 2023-24 NBA Season for the Pistons. To me, the season relies on the positive growth, especially from 3 point range of Cunningham, Thompson and Ivey. If this doesn’t happen, the majority of the shooting will fall on the shoulders of the veterans Beasley and Hardaway Jr, who have both been streaky throughout their careers.

A potential starting lineup of Cunningham, Hardaway Jr, Thompson, Harris and Duren is very light in 3 point ability, and the spacing would cause issues too. Unless there is significant improvement, Detroit would have 3 below average shooters in their lineup, with Cunningham, Thompson and Duren all failing to shoot the clip efficiently from downtown. Add to more non-shooters like Ron Holland, Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed potentially being significant contributors off the bench, the 3 point shooting woes of the Pistons may coontinue, and they might need to turn to prospects like Marcus Sasser and Wendell Moore to provide a spark off the bench.

Despite this, Detroit has a much stronger roster than they did last season, and, with significant changes on the bench and a weak Eastern Conference, the Pistons could definitely challenge for a Play In Spot, albeit this challenge relies on significant spacing improvements, not only from the players but from new coach J.B Bickerstaff’s scheme as well.

My Prediction: 31-51 (11th in the East)