Detroit Pistons Team by Team

2023-2024 Season Finish: 19-63

Season Highlight: Last year’s iteration of the Pistons was one led by youth, and one in which growing pains were expected.  While there were some bumps along the way, there were a ton of glimpses into the future of the franchise.  Brandon Miller and Ausar Thompson raised eyebrows across the league on what seemed like a weekly basis for their stellar play.  Ausar proved to have a sky-high defensive impact immediately, and Miller filled up the stat sheet with multiple 30+ point games.  The since departed Jalen Green also played a major role in what amounted to one of the great young nuclei across the league.  While Green has since been moved and will not see what Detroit fans hope is the impending promise land, there is no doubt that the high point of the season was the youth, and their ability to immediately impact the game in several positive ways.

Season lowlight: Though the front office may have seen the 23/24 season as a season of growth, I am sure the season left many fans desiring more wins.  After the Donovan Mitchell trade, the expectations should have led fans to thoughts of a rebuild, but anytime your team loses 63 games in an NBA season, you won’t be feeling too good about it.  So, in the W/L column, the lowlight began early on, and lasted the whole season, but the Detroit front office rightfully viewed it as means to a better future return. 

Best Trade: The Pistons were apart of only 1 major trade last season, the aforementioned trade that sent out Donovan Mitchell, and brought in Jalen Green and the pick that would end up to be Ausar Thompson amongst other pieces.  It was the trade that was needed to kickstart the rebuild in Detroit, a team that had been in the perpetual “treadmill” zone if you will, not good enough to contend, and not bad enough to get a top pick. 

There were two trades in Detroit that netted them solid value:

1)     John Konchar, for Jalen Pickett and Jalen Wilson

2)     Monte Morris, DET 28 2^nd Rounder, for Devontae Graham, IND 26 2^nd Rounder, NO 26 1^st

In trading Konchar for two recent late round draft picks, there was some risk involved on Sheed’s end.  Konchar isn’t a prized piece by any stretch, but he’s a depth piece that can give some end of bench minutes in a pinch.  Jalen Pickett has still not shown much at the NBA level, but Jalen Wilson has the looks of a guy who can play in the NBA for a long time.  A combo-forward who can score, while stretching the floor, who’s also shown an increased propensity in attacking the rim of late, should be more than the value that Konchar would have fetched elsewhere.  Great get. 

Swapping Monte Morris for Graham was, in my opinion, a like for like swap, and to be able to get a first on top of it, was a stellar return.  GM Sheed will look for many more deals of the same ilk as Detroit continues down the path of building towards contention.

Worst Trade: While I would not point to any trade as necessarily bad, I think you could point to the Pistons trade with the Lakers as the trade where there is still ground to make up on Detroit’s side, which could very well be on the way to being accomplished.  Donovan Mitchell was great last season in the NSL and looks like an early MVP candidate in the NBA, and anytime you trade away that type of production, it will be virtually impossible to immediately replace.  Ausar and Jalen Green had great seasons for Detroit, but surely Donovan Mitchell would have led that team to more than 19 wins.  With all of that being said, Ausar Thompson is still in Detroit, and Jalen Green was recently moved for a star who can replace most, if not all of Mitchell’s production in Jalen Brunson.  They love their Jalen’s in Detroit, and they will surely hope Jalen Brunson is the guy to push the Pistons back into contention.

Other Notable Trades:  None.  Detroit participated in 4 trades last year, 3 of which I have already spoken about.  They dropped down in the most recent draft, in a swap with the Hawks, which I assume was part of another deal, but I cannot track the origin.  All in all, only a few, highly calculated moves from the Pistons front office, which is not surprising given the rebuilding nature of the franchise last season.  This season…does not appear to be the same.

Star: Jalen Brunson is the new man leading the charge in the Motor City.  Detroit is elated to have an A-level star back in the stable, and his running mates in Ausar Thompson, Brandon Miller, Ivica Zubac and co., should all be better off for it.  Chatter on Brunson has been quiet since he arrived in the Motor City, which is not always the case with recently traded superstars in the NSL.  All signs point towards GM Sheed giving this iteration of the team a real run at the playoffs in 2024 and 2025.

Flop: The Pistons could have gone a bit more “all-in” on the rebuild.  By the trade deadline, there were still several impactful veterans who could have likely fetched something in the form of future assets.  With all of that being said, Sheed acquired value multiple times last year, and without direct knowledge of the deadline market, I can’t quite convict him of missing out on value there.

Draft Grades: After initially having pick 8(which was traded to ATL, then to CHI where Buzelis was selected) which became pick 18(traded in the Brunson trade, eventually PHO selected Jakobe Walter), which became no picks, the Pistons don’t have a rookie in 2024 persay, but shrewdly utilized their draft positions to attract more talent to Detroit.  GM Sheed capitalized on value during what was expected to be one of the weaker NBA drafts in recent memory. 

The Future: The expectation in Detroit is that the team will compete for a playoff spot this year, barring major injury.  Of course, Brunson missing any time would massively derail things in the Motor City, but there is still depth and youth behind him, which would still lead fans of the team to tune in, even during his absence.  If Ausar Thompson can return to play(out due to blood clotting) and Miller can continue to evolve his game on both sides of the floor, the future should be quite bright in a city that yearns for the Pistons return to the NSL Eastern Conference finals, a place that was at one time the lowest of expectations in Detroit NSL fan circles.