The Pistons are off to a disastrous start to their season. They are currently in the midst of a 25-game losing streak, only three losses away from the Philidelpha 76ers’ 28-game losing streak during the 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 seasons. The Pistons were expected to make some strides in their rebuild, but they are still stuck on square one. What has caused such a horrid start, and is there any hope in righting the ship and getting back on track?
Historic Incompetence: Why Have The Pistons Struggled So Much?
If you looked at the Pistons roster, it would look bleak, but there is enough talent there for a fan to be hopeful. Jalen Duren performs well as an interior finisher and rebounder, Ausar Thompson has established himself as a freakish athlete and lockdown defender, and Cade Cunningham has made solid leaps in his game.
When you add in players such as Bojan Bogdanovic, Isaiah Stewart, Joe Harris, and Marvin Bagley, it makes you wonder why Detroit has been so awful.
Woe All-Around
Delving into the Pistons’ statistics explains why they have struggled so much. Detroit averages the fourth-lowest points per game at 109, has the worst net rating in the league at -11.7, and has the fourth-worst true shooting percentage at 55.6%.
The Pistons biggest issue is their horrid three-point shooting and spacing. With the least threes attempted, and the worst three-point percentage in the league, Detroit is unable to run a functional offense. From Cade to Ausar to Duren, almost all of Detroit’s young players need some spacing around them to play at their full potential. It does not matter how many young players you draft if none of them can share a court due to their inability to space the floor.
The spacing issue links directly to the next biggest issue the Pistons have. They have drafted too many high-upside prospects that can’t share the court.
Only One Ball, Only Five Players For The Pistons
Over the past few years, Detroit has drafted a slew of young players in the lottery. This in itself is not bad. A team that is tanking for picks is going to consistently get high picks in the draft. The problem comes in the fact that when you are drafting players you need to develop year after year, it gets harder to make sure every prospect gets the playing time they need.
How is a rookie like Marcus Sasser going to get any sort of playing time when Cade, Ausar, and Jaden Ivey are all ahead of him in the pecking order? How can Jaden Ivey improve when Killian Hayes takes what little backup minutes are left? James Wiseman is never going to get another chance to prove himself when Marvin Bagley, Duren, and Stewart also need to get their minutes.
The Pistons need to cut down on how many young players they have and focus on their main core of players. A strategy of drafting young players and hoping they can grow without gaining proper experience is a losing one. As it stands now, Detroit will have a roster full of players who have had their growth stunted due to a lack of opportunity.
The Last Word
A combination of bad roster construction and dysfunctional management has set the Pistons back. These issues could be fixed by trimming off young players who have no future on the team, and trading for players (preferably shooters) who can mesh with the young core you want to build around. If the Pistons keep throwing things on a wall and hoping it sticks, nothing will change, and Pistons fans will have years of subpar performances to look forward to.
