Our second preview of the Central Division takes us to the young and promising Detroit Pistons
Part two of a look inside the Central Division. I looked inside the Indiana Pacers first, which you can read here. Today, a team creeping towards relevancy with an eye on a potential play-in? The Detroit Pistons.
Detroit Pistons 2021-22 Recap
Record: 23-59 (14th in Eastern Conference)
vs Bulls: 0-4
Memorable moment: Isaiah Stewart vs the Lakers.
Detroit Pistons 2022 Off-Season
Traded Jerami Grant to the Portland Trailblazers in exchange for a future first-round pick.
Drafted Guard Jaden Ivey 5th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft, traded up to draft Center-Forward Jalen Duren 13th overall.
Acquired Forward Bojan Bogdanovich from the Utah Jazz.
2022 Preview
The Detroit Pistons have made the playoffs twice in 13 years. They haven’t won a playoff GAME since 2008. Long gone are the glory days of the Bad Boy Pistons or the mid-2000s teams who went to the Eastern Conference Finals six years in a row.
However, after much gloom and doom, there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel for a franchise that’s been stuck in the mud. They have a young back-court duo of Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey that the franchise can build around for the next ten years. By acquiring Bojan Bogdanovich in a trade in September, barring any major injury, all signs point to them pushing to be competitive and trying to make a play-in tournament spot.
Cade Cunningham Leap?
The first overall pick of the 2021 NBA draft, Cade Cunningham certainly didn’t disappoint Piston fans and NBA junkies. He averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.6 assists per game last season, finishing third in rookie of the year voting. While not having jump-out-the-gym athleticism, his overall knack for the game and creativity scoring and playmaking showed how special of a player he can be for a franchise that was desperate for a franchise-type player. With more shooting and playmaking now surrounding him, I expect his 41.6 FG% to rise and the efficiency to follow.
Jaden Ivey
I’m so high on Jaden Ivey that he gets his own section. Comparisons to Ja Morant are deserved because of how quick and fast he is, as well as he attacks the rim, but right now they are different players. Ivey is a menace on defense, and he’s not going to bring the ball up every time being paired with Cunningham.
As the season progresses, I expect Ivey to work with the second unit more and more, where he and Cunningham can have their minutes staggered but be on the court together during end-of-game situations. The Pistons being able to get him fifth felt like the biggest steal of the draft and also addressed their biggest need, a perimeter presence on defense.
The Rest of the Roster
This roster is no slouch. While their key players are very young, players like Guard Cory Joseph, Forward Rodney McGruder, and Center Nerlens Noel all bring a sense of professionalism to this team and will help those young guys through the growing pains of an 82-game season. I’ve mentioned Bojan Bogdanovich, who’s going to be a key shooter off the bench and will most likely finish games for them, he will also bring veteran leadership to Detroit.
Prediction
The only thing going against Detroit possibly making the play-in tournament is that almost every single team in the Eastern Conference thinks they have a shot to get in this season. While I like this roster, they are still a couple of years away from playoff contention. Watching the growth of Cunningham and Ivey should be fun this season and that alone makes them a watchable league-pass team.
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