Detroit Pistons’ Rebuild Through Draft Not Going as Intended

To the dismay of Pistons fans — and really, basketball fans everywhere who long for a once-great team to return to glory — this year’s iteration of Detroit has gotten off to yet another slow start.

Slow may not be the right descriptor here for a team that went winless in November. Lethargic. Enervated.

But at the core of problem, there’s really little finger-pointing to be done.

The front office, comprised of a number of coveted executives led by Troy Weaver, drafted as many would’ve, including myself [insert less-than-sparkling draft record].

At the time, Oklahoma State's Cade Cunningham looked an elite option with the No. 1 pick, despite some thinking Evan Mobley could morph into that as well.

While Jaden Ivey wasn’t a necessarily great fit on paper, grabbing him at No. 5 felt like great value, especially give the league’s position-less ways. And nabbing Jalen Duren — a hyper-athletic big and still one of the youngest players entire league — still feels like the right decision.

And then there’s Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser, both of which have been rare bright spots this season, especially the former. But even Thompson’s fit seems to procure major issues for the core as a whole without 3-point shooting.

And to top it all off, they hired one of the top head coaches on the market, despite Monty Williams not living up to that mantle just yet.

So why have they been so bad? And what’s to be done from here?

Despite reports that Detroit isn’t ready to move on from its front office just yet, that’s typically the first move. But there’s caveats that may not necessarily make it the right one in this situation.

Cunningham, who missed nearly his entire last season with injury, is essentially in what many would call his sophomore slump. And without a maximized roster around him, it’s highlighting his obvious flaws.

Duren is a solid piece, and is freshly 20-years-old with plenty of improvement to be had in the near future.

For now, at least from a pure production standpoint, it seems like Detroit drafted correctly in 2023, with Thompson having a sky-high ceiling if the developmental cards are played right.

And while Ivey may end up being an odd piece out among this core, he’s certainly a chip they can use to add some flexibility and versatility to the roster in the future should it come to that.

Detroit is still the eighth youngest team in the NBA, with its starting five alone likely even higher in that ranking. For now, they’ll have to sit back and develop the talent they have and grab another high-value draft pick, even if it comes at the cost of another 20-ish-win season.