In the Motor City, the restart seems closer and closer to eternal. Detroit has not been to the playoffs since 2019, at a time when Andre Drummond was piling up stats. The look back is painful with only one season above 50% of victories in the last 16 years…
The drought is as long as the rebuilding process for the Michigan franchise. And its expected acceleration last season with the signing of Monty Williams on the bench for an XXL check turned into an equally big fiasco with the worst record in the history of the Pistons and the departure of the man who had taken the Suns to the NBA Finals after only one short season.
So we wipe the slate clean and start over at Little Ceasers Arena. On the bench, JB Bickerstaff was picked up after his ouster from the Cavaliers despite having made it through a round of the playoffs. The former Cleveland coach knows the drill, having already picked up the Ohio franchise in a pitiful state but with a few promising players. All that remained was to surround them properly to help them grow. That's the recipe Detroit has banked on, from top to bottom, from the management to part of the squad.
Exit GM Troy Weaver, the new boss is called Trajan Langdon, recovered from the Pelicans, seconded by Dennis Lindsey, one of the architects of the Jazz of the Donovan Mitchell – Rudy Gobert era. On the field, almost half of the roster has been modified with five signings and two players obtained during the Draft. Lacking veterans also capable of contributing sportingly, the Pistons got their hands on Tobias Harris, on the recovery after a frustrating stint with the Sixers, or shooters Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr, who will not hurt the spacing.
No other player in the group has played five seasons in the NBA and Detroit is still counting on its Cade Cunningham-Jalen Duren backbone to climb the Eastern Conference hierarchy.
The duo will have to avoid spending too much time in the infirmary to confirm their progress, especially since the squad seems a little better equipped and balanced than last year. It's almost a traffic jam in certain positions like on the wing with the return of Tobias Harris, the contract extension of Simone Fontecchio, interesting after her arrival mid-season, Atypical Ausar Thompson's Sophomore Season and the 5the last Draft choice, Ron Holland. In the absence of solid guarantees of victories, this limits the risks of a new exercise with 31 different players used…
SUMMER MOVEMENTS
Arrivals: Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr, Tobias Harris, Ron Holland II, Daniss Jenkins (two-way contract), Bobi Klintman, Wendell Moore Jr, Paul Reed
Departures: Buddy Boeheim, Troy Brown Jr, Evan Fournier, Taj Gibson, Quentin Grimes, Chimezie Metu, James Wiseman
PLAYER TO WATCH: JALEN DUREN
Cade Cunningha, with his new big contract ($224 million over five years), would have also been a good candidate. But credit to Jalen Duren, who will have at least taken advantage of last season's slump to confirm that he could be the pivot of the future for the Pistons. Fifth best rebounder per game in the league, the 20-year-old player could have the season of the explosion in his third year in the league.
Jalen Duren has already reached a first offensive milestone in recent months, as evidenced by his new reliability on free throws (from 61.1 to 79%). Better exploited, he could take greater advantage of his athletic qualities near the rim, whether in finishing or even offensive rebounding, where he can do even better. His good quality of passing should benefit from the offensive reinforcements of the summer, in particular Tobias Harris, while the Detroit wings brought very few points until then.
Above all, his association with JB Bickerstaff, a defensive-minded coach, should help him move up a level on that side of the court, as he seems equipped to be a dominant player there. The Pistons will be able to consider themselves on the right track if he succeeds, and gets past the label of the new Andre Drummond that is sometimes unfairly stuck on him.
Average age: 22.6 years
Payroll: $130.7 million (30e)
THE IDEAL SCENARIO
What if the Pistons doubled their win total from last year? We bet a few eyes widened when reading that sentence, and yet. Detroit seems to have redrawn the hierarchy of its roster and can now rely on a real hard core of 12 “real” established NBA players. Above all, the most obvious weak points seem to be able to be corrected. With Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway at position 2, Tobias Harris at positions 3 or 4, Cade Cunningham is (finally) surrounded by shooters.
The former first overall pick in the Draft could also take advantage of this to be a little less targeted by opposing defenses and gain in efficiency, which he has been lacking so far. If Tobias Harris were to become a player flirting with the 20-point average around 38% from afar, the Michigan franchise would regain some respect from opposing defenses. Even without hoping for the moon, just getting closer to 20th place in offensive and defensive ratings could give Pistons fans some hope. Especially since with the youngest roster in the entire NBA on average, the goal is not to perform well, but to have reasons to be patient.
This will probably require redistributing roles and responsibilities, why not move Jaden Ivey as a sixth man to give him more of the ball in hand off the bench, with rookie Ron Holland as a detonator at his side. So many ingredients that can result in a season around 28 wins, a good compromise to develop while remaining well placed for the next Draft, while a place beyond 10th place would offer the pick to San Antonio or Portland.
THE WORST SCENARIO
Changing personnel doesn't mean changing culture, and Detroit could very well be in for another difficult season. If injuries disrupt the season again, the roster will quickly lack talent. Especially since it's not the lack of complementarity between some key players (Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson are all limited in terms of outside shooting) that immediately inspires optimism.
Will the JB Bickerstaff graft take better than the one with Monty Williams, when the latter seemed to have the profile of the ideal “mentor” coach for such an inexperienced group?
Nothing is less certain. Especially since the fans of the 2004 champion will have to get used to a coach who is not really known for offering the most attractive offensive game in the NBA to his teams. But the important thing is that the youngsters progress, the worst possibility being a new year that is too quickly ruined, and without a new horizon.
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