In my head and my heart are three fundamental truths about the Detroit Pistons‘ offseason. One, they made a series of good moves and are likely a better team than the one that won 60 games a season ago. The second truth is that the offseason was a failure. The final truth is that failure was likely the best course of action.
Let’s unpack each of those a bit more.
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The Detroit Pistons Are a Better Team
The first truth: The Detroit Pistons are better than they were one season ago. I believe this pretty unreservedly.
Look, I am a Tobias Harris fan, and I believe the kind of mid-range, backdown shot creation he brought to the team was underappreciated and will be missed. But I also see the vision of why this team targeted John Collins as a Harris replacement. Collins is a mix of rim pressure and outside shooting that can play extremely effectively off the ball.
Over the past two years, Collins is shooting 60% on twos and 40% on threes compared to 53% and 35% for Harris. Collins can get himself to the line when asked, and the Pistons love getting to the line. He’s a better rebounder and shot blocker than Harris.
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He’s going to have less of a direct role in the offense, but what he is asked to do, Collins is going to do at a high level, and likely be a better defender.
The Pistons made another crucial addition by adding Isaiah Joe in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’s almost like Detroit fans processed the addition of Joe and priced in an eventual trade of Duncan Robinson, and wrote off the move as a wash. Except that Duncan Robinson trade never came. Now the Pistons are surrounding Cade Cunningham with two of the most dangerous spot-up shooters in the NBA, who are both high-volume and efficient from the perimeter.
Both are the types of players that you have to guard, and that makes it tough for defenses to scheme against. The Pistons won 60 games last season with Robinson as the only bona fide shooter on the floor most of the time. They needed to address this critical flaw, and they couldn’t do much better than adding Joe.
In practice, the Pistons executed the offseason playbook from two seasons ago when they tripled their win total thanks to the largely unheralded additions of Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. As we saw that season, nothing helps Cunningham more than having space with which to work.
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Detroit also added Taurean Prince as a legit backup power forward, which they did not have last year, and he is a perfectly serviceable reserve who can hit open perimeter shots. Prince shot over 48% from the corners a season ago, and 45% the season before that. If that is what he is mostly asked to do in Detroit, then that is just fine. The Pistons somewhat surprisingly re-signed Kevin Huerter, whom they added at the trade deadline for Jaden Ivey. Huerter is a well-rounded and servicable player who does a ton of things well. If he somehow rediscovers his 3-point shot, this is easily a surplus-value deal. If that shot continues to be AWOL, he still knows how to make himself useful on the court, and the deal is just fine.
I am also pricing in the return of Jalen Duren, and the longer this offseason drags on, the more likely it is going to be on a number the Pistons won’t be living to regret. He will be incredibly well paid, but he isn’t signing for the supermax or even the max. I also don’t think he blows things up by signing his qualifying offer. He’ll sign a long-term deal for some generational wealth and be a cornerstone of Detroit’s lineup.
Finally, the Pistons added Ebuka Okorie in the first round of the draft. I’m pretty skeptical of his year-one impact, but if they can unlock any of his self-creation, foul-drawing, and playmaking then it’ll be the cherry on top of the offseason sundae.
All of these are good moves individually and in the aggregate. They are swapping Collins for Harris, Prince for Isaiah Stewart, Joe for Caris LeVert, and Okorie for Marcus Sasser. I understand the fears associated with Harris’ role and Stewart’s defense, but those are all upgrades in my book.
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The Detroit Pistons’ offseason was a failure
Now that 400 words of praise are out of the way, let’s move on to fundamental truth No. 2. The Pistons’ offseason was a failure.
Again, I believe this is unequivocally true, and anyone trying to talk themselves around this truth feels like someone who isn’t comfortable in discomfort.
The Pistons’ failure is defined by their previous success. Their offseason goal was not just to get better; it was to make the moves that allow them to compete for an NBA championship. They did not do that.
They are still one player away. I believe they went into the offseason knowing that fact, and they spent the entire offseason attempting to address that fact. And they couldn’t do it. They failed.
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There were early reports of the team being ready to make a max offer to Austin Reeves. It spooked the Lakers so much that they re-signed him to his max. Persistent rumors of interest in Trey Murphy, but the Pelicans seemingly had unreasonable trade demands. There were reports of interest in Coby White, but the Hornets signed him to a big deal after unloading LaMelo Ball.
Feelers about Kyrie Irving rejected. Eagerness in Kawhi Leonard spurned. Cade Cunningham’s attempt to woo Kevin Durant went nowhere. All would have been seismic moves (minus White, I suppose), and an attempt to get Cunningham his running mate.
Trajan Langdon simply couldn’t get anything across the finish line. He had his price, and he held firm. Whether you consider this patience or reluctance to do what is necessary is up to you, but I think Langdon understands one thing pretty clearly. He gets one shot at this major swing, and he can’t afford to miss.
In this salary cap era, you can’t afford to add major money and then continuously rerack of its not working. There are just not as many buyers for guys on major contracts as there once were. He needs to know the major he player he adds has the skills and temperament, and that he fits into the roster in a way that takes the Pistons to title contention.
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The thing that makes this the most difficult pill to swallow is seeing just how much better the Eastern Conference has gotten this offseason. Being better than your 60-win team from a season ago certainly won’t mean winning 60 games again, and Detroit will be in a scrum with a lot of teams with championship aspirations.
There are the defending champion Knicks, of course, and the new-look Philadelphia 76rs who are dominating the headlines. Winning a title and adding Jaylen Brown and LeBron James to two of basketball’s biggest markets will do that.
The Boston Celtics are relying on a full season of Jayson Tatum to build on the momentum of last year’s surprise success. The Cleveland Cavaliers remain a formidable force with big expectations led by Donovan Mitchell, the Miami Heat want another superstar-led run via Giannis Antetokounmpo, and the Toronto Raptors believe they’re adding Kawhi Leonard (time will tell). The fan bases in Indiana, Atlanta, Charlotte, and Orlando also think they have the talent to make plenty of noise.
The East is pretty stacked, there is little incentive to tank, and Detroit will have its hands full all season.
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Failure Was Not Only An Option, but it was also the Best Option
Langdon failed at his No. 1 objective this offseason, but instead of panicking into a move that wouldn’t work just so he could say he is taking his shot, he decided to bide his time and wait to see if that move becomes available at the trade deadline or this offseason.
If Detroit can find that move, they can swing the balance of the East in their favor and make a legitimate run to the NBA Finals. If they can’t make that move, the ceiling on this team feels like incremental progress that sees them advance past the second round and get dispatched in the Eastern Conference Finals. Maybe that finals matchup is competitive, maybe it’s a route as Detroit’s lack of a second option comes into painful focus.
Would that make for a satisfying season for Pistons fans? Probably not. However, I am glad they were willing to accept failure rather than win headlines or a news cycle. That way lies ruin. We’ve seen it in Detroit before.
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It also remains true today, as it was on the final day of last season, that the Pistons have set themselves up for the chance to make a significant addition to this roster. Their books are clean, their core players are mostly in place, and they are in control of all their future picks. Cade hasn’t reached his ceiling. Ausar Thompson and Duren have not reached their ceiling. If Ron Holland is finally able to break through a bit on offense, he becomes an actual attractive trade piece and not simply a throw-in. Okorie could be the real deal and become the same.
The prognosticators, somewhat rightly, expected the Pistons to take a home run swing. They instead stepped to the plate and hit some singles and doubles. Importantly, they didn’t strike out. They will also be back up to the plate.
