The Pistons dropped their 17th straight game Saturday to fall to 2-18, but the organization is still emphasizing patience instead of panic, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Sources tell Sankofa that ownership is unlikely to make major front office changes with so much of the season remaining, which means general manager Troy Weaver will have more time to fix the current mess.
Still, Sankofa cites concern throughout the franchise as no one expected this season to start so badly. Coming off the worst three-year stretch in team history, the Pistons thought they were ready to take a step toward contention. Instead, they have the worst record in the league and are just 4-41 since February 12.
Sankofa traces everything that has gone wrong in Detroit, including management’s decision to be conservative with its offseason cap space while counting on the development of young players to make the team better. The Pistons traded for Monte Morris, who was supposed to bring veteran leadership to the backcourt, but he hasn’t played yet and may be sidelined through January with a quad strain. Joe Harris was acquired to add shooting, but injuries have limited him to seven games and he’s connecting at just 36% from the field.
There’s more from Detroit:
- There’s nothing to be gained by firing Weaver now, but owner Tom Gores will have no choice if things don’t improve over the rest of the season, contends Shawn Windsor of The Detroit Free Press. Windsor argues that Weaver hasn’t done anything in his three-plus years with the organization to justify letting him run another draft or oversee the considerable money the Pistons will have to chase free agents next summer.
- Coach Monty Williams made a lineup change Saturday night, using guards Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Killian Hayes as starters, per Mike Curtis of The Detroit News. Williams explained that the move was made partially to match up with Cleveland’s small backcourt, but he likes the way his three guards have been performing together. Curtis notes that Cunningham played off the ball more frequently for the second straight game and showed better decision making with his shooting.
- The Pistons got a much-needed addition Saturday night with the season debut of Bojan Bogdanovic, who had been sidelined with a strained right calf. Bogdanovic said he suffered the injury shortly before training camp and had another setback that kept him out longer than expected, tweets James L. Edwards of The Athletic.
The off-season strategy seems sound on a long-term basis; nobody can predict bad luck injuries, so the experience they brought in hasn’t been available to execute the plan. I’d guess at this point they already need to punt any post-season aspirations, concentrate on getting healthy and see if there’s noticeable improvement (aka, see if the plan is working). If the vets come back and they can play .500-ish ball from then on, that might be enough to save jobs.
Weaver has done a fine job of picking young talent. This is similar to all those years the Sixers kept tanking and drafting and everyone was on the Trust The Process Train. Nobody said the GM was doing a crap job of picking players(even though he was)
I’ll take this Pistons tean at the same stage over where the Sixers were. I’m not saying tanking endlessly works because it certainly backfired in Philly, but the Pistons have a boatload of talented young guys. Hayes and a couple others need to be moved though. Weaver has done a good job finding young talent, now he needs to prove that he can turn those assets into winning pieces.
To poke the bear, 76ers only had a 3 year tank in “the process” picking up Embiid Okafor and Simmons. The Fultz draft a year later was a pick they got in a trade via Cs and actually weren’t that terrible that year…but did miss out on Tatum. (Deffo not as bad as Pistons have been/are)
Currently Detroit are 4 years in, going into 5. Being bottom 3 in 3 of those years with #7,#1,#5,#5 picks not looking like a franchise player at all(Cade is taking 20 shots per game on 41%, that’s not good at all, I’ve watch a few games he’s just a shot chucker with too much freedom from the coach)
Their best player being acquired via trade in Duren still isn’t a top guy. This is one of the worst teams I have see in years. It’s not a tank, because they can’t avoid it! I feel for Pistons fans, if they can then need to make some trades for good players. Not vet role players, team leaders.
Spot on. Roster is a complete mess of mismatched parts. Big men that can’t score. Swing men that can’t shoot. Some individual talent here but nothing resembling a cohesive team.
I see Monty as the problem here. He’s acting like he’s some kind of great coach. Cause he got the big contract. Like a Star who thinks he’s above the team ….. he better wake up.