Detroit Pistons Last Season Performance
Last season, from start to finish, the Detroit Pistons struggled a lot to pick up important wins. They started the season with a 4-game losing streak and by the end of the 2021-22 season Detroit had just 23 wins in the season and a lot of those were against underperforming teams.
The Pistons did win 12 games against eventual playoff/play-in teams, including wins over Eastern Conference Finalists Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, as well as the Milwaukee Bucks and Utah Jazz. But seven of those quality wins came against the Raptors (who the Pistons have owned for a while now), the Hawks, and the Cavaliers, who were 8th and 9th, respectively.
Detroit had several long-losing streaks in the 2021-22 season, including a 14-game slide around the middle of the season that seemed like it might never end.
Some of their wins came against the likes of the Magic, Rockets, Pacers, Kings, and fellow cellar dwellers, so the wins against the good teams were special.
Ultimately, the Pistons had an awful season, and if they’re going to improve, one good place to start would be to quit fouling on every play, as they were last in opponent free-throw rate. Stewart, Hamidou Diallo, and Hayes all fouled with abandon multiple times, so it’s very clear that this was one of their biggest issues.
Now, last season had some bright spots for Detroit. They managed to pick up Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, proving he’s the franchise player the Pistons were hoping he’d be was a massive step forward for Detroit.
Cunningham’s often solid and occasionally jaw-dropping offensive abilities certainly gave Pistons fans hope for the future they haven’t had in the past 15 years, and his defensive prowess and potential also lived up to the pre-draft hype.
While the Piston’s 23-59 record and Cunningham’s early season struggles with efficiency played a major role in him finishing third in the Rookie of the Year race to Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley, he has quickly and definitively proven himself to be a long-term building block for Detroit.
Detroit Pistons Off-Season Changes
As the Eastern Conference has become more and more crowded with good teams, the Pistons are getting quite a bit of buzz as a lesser team that could take a big jump forward. Maybe there’s something similar people see with this Pistons team and the Atlanta Hawks from two years ago. That Hawks team surprised everybody and had a random run to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Pistons doing that feels very extreme and optimistic, but it might be crazy to wonder if they can be in the mix for the Play-In Tournament. Even with some of the veteran additions, it’s still hard to believe that will happen. Trusting young teams to know how to win consistently enough is not easy. The examples are mostly outliers, but this season, the Pistons can be that next outlier.
Detroit Pistons Key Additions
Ending up with Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren in the draft was such a great pull by The Grim Weaver aka Troy Weaver. A lot of this banks on the idea that Cunningham will just take steps forward each year, and they need the shot-making on this team to improve a lot.
Cunningham was the top pick in the draft in 2021, and if NBA Summer League was any indication, the Pistons seem to have struck pay dirt on two long-term pieces in the 2022 lottery in Ivey and Duren.
Ivey’s dynamic shots to the rim can offer a perfect contrast to Cunningham’s more methodical approach. Ivey is still wild on the move and an erratic shooter but has an explosive first step you can’t teach. The open space of the NBA floor should benefit him much more than a post-centric Purdue attack.
Additionally, Duren will add more rim protection, and there is a legit size up and down the lineup. That said, it’s tough to identify a true stopper and easy to pick out soft targets. This will definitely enhance Detroit’s defense, which will make them a much more solid team compared to last season.
Detroit Pistons Key Substractions
Losing Jerami Grant was a bit tough to stomach for all the Pistons fans. However, there likely wasn’t a huge market for the combo forward. Also, the Pistons did lose a little depth by sending Kelly Olynyk to the Jazz. Olynyk’s NBA career has been filled with injuries, but he was a key rotation piece for Detroit when healthy.
Detroit Pistons Head Coach Analysis
When the Pistons hired Dwane Caseyduring the summer of 2018, he joined a franchise with immediate playoff aspirations. A few months after the franchise had traded for Blake Griffin, there was a strong hope for the team’s first playoff victory since 2008.
Casey himself was coming off winning NBA Coach of the Year after guiding the Raptors to a franchise-best 59 wins and an Eastern Conference semifinals appearance. His mix of proven playoff experience as the Raptors had five consecutive playoff appearances berths, and affinity for developing young players made him an ideal fit for a Pistons team with a superstar in Griffin, several young players looking to make a leap, and nearly a decade of postseason disappointment.
Nearly four years later, zero players from Casey’s first day on the job remain on the roster. The Pistons have a new direction: Wins and losses aren’t the primary focus anymore. The goal is simply to compete every night and to develop a new group of young players into franchise centerpieces.
Detroit Pistons Betting Prediction for the 2022-23 Season
To nobody’s surprise, the Sportsbook has the Pistons at +100000 to win the 2023 NBA Championship and at +25000 to win the Central Division. This is obviously due to their performance throughout the last season and also because, as mentioned before, they aren’t necessarily focused on picking up the largest amount of wins.
Rebuilding is a perfectly acceptable option for teams in dire need of talent and experience, and that will be the Pistons’ focus again this season. Within that, though, there needs to be tangible progress and Detroit is at that point. After three straight seasons of 20, 20, and 23 victories, it’s time for something resembling a push, say, for a Play-In spot, to give all the youth and development some real context.
The tricky part for the Pistons will be nurturing all that young talent at the same time. Cunningham and Ivey, if truly precocious here and now, can propel Detroit toward the East’s Final Four, those final four postseason-hopeful spots of the Play-In. But 10th place still might be a slot too high.
Detroit Pistons Team Leaders
Detroit Pistons Team Ranked Stats
Detroit Pistons Team Summary
Detroit Pistons Team Injuries
Detroit Pistons Team Schedule/Results
Detroit Pistons Team Standings
Detroit Pistons Team Roster
Detroit Pistons FAQs
When was the last time the Detroit Pistons made the playoffs?
The Detroit Pistons last made the playoffs in 2019, when they lost the Eastern Conference First Round. They’ve been in the playoffs a total of 40 times in their 73 seasons.
Do the Detroit Pistons have a chance of winning the Eastern Conference title?
The sportsbook has the Pistons as one of the least favorites to win their conference at +50000 odds. Even if Detroit is looking better compared to last season and have much better chances to make it to the playoffs, they will have to pull-off a massive upset to win the Eastern Conference. In 2008, the Detroit Pistons beat the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Have the Detroit Pistons won an NBA championship?
Even though they haven’t been a hot team in a while now, the Detroit Pistons won the NBA Finals 3 times, in 1989, 1990, and 2004. In their full franchise history, they’ve appeared in 7 NBA Finals.
Why are the Detroit Pistons part of the NBA?
Founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as a semi-professional company basketball team called the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in 1937, they would turn pro in 1941 as a member of the National Basketball League. In 1957, the franchise moved to Detroit, officially changing the team’s name to Detroit Pistons.
