Synopsis

Detroit were hot in preseason boasting a 9 win 2 loss record and were picked as a title contender by Pistol and estimated to finish with a 58-24 record with an added (unless injuries hit this team hard) which despite injuries was a pretty good estimation as Detroit finished the year 46-36. Detroit started the year out strong and was looking to be a great prediction as title favourites but as with the rewards of having Kyrie Irving and Blake Griffin also comes the risk of them getting injured and derailing your season. Unfortunately for the Pistons the later of that came true with Kyrie Irving going down early in the season. Kyrie later returned for a short stint late in the season to help them push for a late playoff spot, however once again fell to injury as the playoffs neared. Blake Griffin also went down for 50% of the season but was shipped out early enough for that not to affect their season record. A few judgement calls went astray with some moves not being seen that could have pushed this team to a higher potential and a quick first round exit at the hands of the Toronto Raptors.

Pistons trades

 

Pistons made their first big trade of the season dealing Blake Griffin, their 10^th pick Jaxson Hayes and Isaiah Roby to the 76ers for Vince Carter, Andre Igoudala, Rudy Gobert. What was a good trade getting off the injury plagued Blake Griffin adding some veteran presence in VC, Igoudala and the Center Gobert to play next to Adebayo was a puzzling move as Adebayo would need to move to the 4. In the modern era 2 paint dominant bigs isn’t something seen very often as it leads to clogged lanes, lack of 3 point shooting and has been proven not to be very effective in the 3 point era where the Power Forward has now become a predominantly 3 and D position.

 

Sheed quickly realised that even by adding some more paint protection and perimeter defence they still had a glaring hole staring them in the face and that was the need to bring in another starting point guard to take over when Irving inevitably missed games. The Detroit Pistons dealt veteran SF/PF Danilo Gallinari and bench spark Jordan Clarkson to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Goran Dragic, Norman Powell to give some scoring depth on the wing and an added Bryn Forbes. This proved to be a good move for the Pistons as it allowed them to continue their winning ways in Kyries absence and kept them in playoff contention long enough for Kyrie to come back in time to help lock in a playoff spot.

With some decent win now moves the Pistons also added some key assets to potentially flip at a later time but for now Detroit forged on with their push to hopefully be crowned the Inaugural NSL champions.

Season wrap

 

Cruising through pre-season with a 9-2 record and started the season strong and after a few big changes the Pistons faired ok enough to fend off the late charging teams trying to steal a playoff spot in the East. The run was short lived though as once again Kyrie was out again and with the pandemic shutting down the NBA there was no hope for Irving to return for the NSL playoffs. Finishing with the 6^th seed they were up against the 3^rd seed Toronto Raptors and the daunting back court of Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday. Who were arguably their biggest kryptonite, Detroit did not have the guards to defend Damian Lillard or with a big enough bag of tricks to score on Jrue Holiday. The Raptors were also deep in the bigs department leading to a tough time for Bam or Rudy to score and dominate inside. In what was a tough fought series it was overwhelmingly over in 4 games with Detroit being eliminated. It is unknown whether Kyrie would have made a massive difference in this series he may have been able to change the outcome of a few games but lack of depth and a capable wing was the biggest killer to the Pistons season.

Conclusion

GM Sheed and the Detroit Pistons set themselves up to have a great run and a chance to win this seasons title. Injuries hurt them badly and some unwillingness to move certain pieces to help them bring in depth and contend were missed. Weaknesses to the roster as exposed by the Toronto Raptors will need to be patched in the off-season. To conclude Detroit had a hit and miss season, they started really well and looked to be a threat before injuries and lack of depth was the killer. I think the Pistons are currently in a perfect spot this off-season to make moves and really come out strong into next season with hopefully a healthy roster and some added depth.

 

Pros and Cons

 

Pros

·        Gobert value as a trade asset

·        Kyrie Irving seeming to be in a stable team situation

·        Bam Adebayos rise and extension in the NBA

·        Cap not tied into bad contracts

·        Flexibility with Dragic 19 million dollar contract coming off the books.

·        Draft picks

 

Cons

·        Did not recognise the teams need to move a valuable asset Gobert on at the deadline, in exchange for getting a good wing and let Adebayo be the sole big man at Center, adding that wing I could have seen them having a better playoff run.

·        Injuries to key players affecting their playoff seed and eventually their downfall in playoffs.

·        Kyrie Irving injury prone

·        Lack of depth team was 6 deep with 1 down injured and a big talent drop off.

 

Moves I want to see Detroit make

 

·        Gobert packed and out of Detroit, cash in on his value and Bam Adebayos rise and move Gobert out for a good wing player and some depth.

·        Re-sign Dragic and trade him on in week 5 for a younger defensive minded point guard.

·        Target a scoring PF this off-season with the remainder of GMs left after retaining Dragic.