The Official Detroit Pistons Thread

#1,218
#1,218
I cannot believe what I'm watching. This team was so beyond dead two years ago. I remember when I moved in with my girlfriend in the spring of 2024, she asked what sports she can expect to be on and she said, "What about the Pistons" and I laughed and told her they lost 28 games in a row, haven't won a playoff game in 15 years and one of the five worst owners in all of sports has not clue what he is doing. I said, "I usually don't watch them when the calendar turns" and told her not to worry about them.

And here they are, the best team in the East with a franchise tying win streak, with me watching every night. I am in awe. This is even more shocking than the Lions becoming good or the Tigers .2% chance at the playoffs and making it last year. The best player they've added since that terrible, no-good streak is Tobias Harris. Trajan Langdon and J.B. Bickerstaff deserve massive, massive raises. This is by far the best story in the NBA.
 
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#1,220
#1,220
RespectAPA said:
How did they manage to turn it around that quick?
Click to expand...

Troy Weaver, despite being terrible at roster management, actually acquired a good amount of talent. I mean Cade was pretty easy #1 and Weaver had a disaster pick with Killian Hayes in 2020 (which I don't fault him for multiple reasons with that weird COVID process). But Stewart was a great pick in the late teens. Saddiq Bey was a good pick (too bad he traded him for nothing). Jaden Ivey and Ausar were good values at #5. They essentially traded Jerami Grant for Jalen Duren which is a massive, massive win. Weaver just had no clue how to build a roster. Then Monty Williams intentionally sabotaged the team since his contract was fully guaranteed and he didn't want the job to begin with. They weren't 14-68 talent bad. It was just a toxic environment with poor roster construction.

With all that being said, holy **** has Trajan Langdon been incredible. Tobias was a perfectly priced player and a great contract that brought a ton of veteran experience and has been a perfect teammate. Beasley/Hardaway were awesome one year rentals last year, then the Schroder trade was awesome (they gave up nothing and got a 2nd!). Duncan Robinson has been really good and LeVert has been a positive, both on contracts that are easily moveable if needed. Holland hasn't quite been as good as I was hoping in year 2 but I still believe in him, so not a bad pick last year at #5. But the biggest thing is they really focused on their coaches thriving in player development and giving these guys streamlined processes to improve. The organization was in shambles, they had three different people trying to make decisions and an owner that didn't know what he was doing. Giving Trajan full reign and restructuring the organization to his vision was essential for so many young pieces.

Then I think Bickerstaff has been absolutely marvelous. He's got a reputation for wearing down his locker room, so I don't know how long it will last. But this was the worst defensive team in the league two years ago and now their top 3. They have great plans every night, he holds dudes accountable without ruining their confidence. His offense works well enough, he draws some good stuff up. He's done a great job implementing dribble handoffs and creating space without a lot of shooting. He also has their backs and they know it. Plus, this roster was so beaten down from the losing they were willing to take tough coaching. You add Cade taking a leap last year, then Duren taking a monster leap this year, and you get this.
 
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