State of Detroit Sports: 2024 Mid-Year Review: Part 2

The Detroit Pistons: Eternal Rebuild

    We have had two truly amazing periods in the history of the Detroit Pistons franchise. In the late 80s and early 90s, you had the Bad Boys of Basketball. Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer, Dennis Rodman and John Salley. This was the core of a team that was able to win back-to-back world championships in the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons, these two seasons being in the middle of a run of making five straight conference finals appearances and making one other finals appearance in the 1987-88 season, falling short to the Magic Johnson-led Los Angeles Lakers. 

    The second truly amazing period in Piston's franchise history was the mid-late 2000s. This saw the birth of the Going-To-Work Pistons. The Pistons would make a few playoff appearances between the 1989-90 championship and the eventual 2003-04 championship, but would only make it as far as the Eastern Conference finals once in this span, being in 2002-03. The 2002-03 offseason would see the Pistons make a few really good signings and perhaps the biggest mistake in the history of the NBA draft. Returning from the 2002-03 core were PG Chauncey Billups, SG Richard "Rip" Hamilton, and C Big Ben Wallace. The Pistons in the offseason before the 2003-04 season would add one of the most notoriously technically fouled player in NBA history, PF Rasheed Wallace. After coming off of the bench in his 2002-03 rookie season, Tayshaun Prince would emerge as the final piece to a starting five that would make history by becoming the first starting five in NBA history to all be voted to the All-Star game in the same year. 

    This 2003-04 team would make it all the way to the NBA finals and have to face the daunting Shaq and Kobe-led Lakers, shocking the world by winning the series in 5 games. This would begin a stretch of 5 straight Central Division banners and 6 straight playoff appearances, never being able to win the championship again. After this team was split up, the Pistons would begin a nearly 20-year rebuild in which they have made the playoffs just twice. The franchise would see, at this time, a venue change, leaving the historic Palace of Auburn Hills to play at Little Caesar's Arena in downtown Detroit. This franchise would also cycle through eight coaches and five general managers. This upcoming season will see both a new coach in J.B. Bickerstaff and a new GM in Trajan Langdon.

    The Pistons have had twelve lottery picks since the 2009-10 season. Of those twelve picks ten have been in the top-10 picks of the draft. We have seen the Pistons draft the likes of Andre Drummond, Luke Kennard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Killian Hayes with these lottery picks. Each of these players had varied levels of success with the Pistons before moving on to other teams. The latest set of draft picks has seen a trio of what could be a great young core for these struggling Pistons. These picks are Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Ausar Thompson. 

    This offseason we have already seen new GM Langdon make a pair of moves that is intriguing. He made a trade to acquire veteran guard Tim Hardaway Jr. and sign veteran forward Tobias Harris to a two-year deal. The last few years of the Troy Weaver GM era did not see an emphasis on signing veterans to support the young team we put together. Seeing Langdon make these moves has given me a bit of hope that he will try and make things different in Detroit and make Detroit Basketball relevant again. 

    It is hard to say when or if the Pistons will make the playoffs in the next 5 years. But, I believe these next 2 seasons will be crucial for us to make a run for the playoffs. Making the correct signings and correct draft day moves and picks will help bring Detroit Basketball to the once-great level we all grew up seeing.