Detroit Pistons general manager Troy Weaver knows the franchise's "restoration" hasn't worked as he envisioned while putting this young roster filled with top draft picks together and bringing in the highest-paid coach in NBA history, Monty Williams, to lead the group.

Weaver spoke publicly for the first time since preseason media day as the Pistons march towards being one of the worst teams in NBA history. The roster he has assembled is 3-31 entering Friday and two games shy of snapping an NBA-record 28-game losing streak.

In an interview with ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on "The Woj Pod," the self-titled podcast hosted by the NBA insider, Weaver said no one expected this type of season and everyone, including himself, feels the pressure to turn it around quickly.

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"Nobody is happy with this," Weaver said when asked about the losing streak. "It's been a tough road for the players, coaches, the organization, for our fans. Nobody wanted to be here but we're here and we are going to continue to fight our way through it. The ownership, Tom (Gores) has come out and said things that were spot on with the way we view it — we are not happy. He is on me every day making sure we turn over every stone, making sure we are looking at every way to improve this team and it gets the Pistons back to being competitive.

"I empathize with the fans," he continued. "Nobody wanted this. I appreciate the support but I also appreciate them not being happy, because guess what? We are not happy and we're going to continue to fight to get this right. What's come out of this is there is always a purpose for your pain, and what's come out of this is the resiliency of this group. It's not always going to line up and sometimes you got to take a step back to take a step forward. We didn't want to do that. We wanted to keep marching forward, but we had to take a step back and deal with this adversity."

When asked what has gone wrong this season, Weaver said the roster has been hindered by a lack of shooting around Cunningham as the focal point of the offense. The Pistons are currently 27th in the NBA in 3-point field goal percentage (34.5%) and average the fewest number of 3s taken and made per game: 10.4 makes on 30.1 attempts.

He also mentioned prolonged injuries to veterans Bojan Bogdanovic, who missed the first 19 games of the season, and Monte Morris, who was brought in as a free agent but has yet to play because of a quad injury, throwing off the team's vision in the opening weeks of the season and having to adjust to figure out how the pieces on the roster fit together best.

Weaver said the evaluation process of how the roster fits together is still ongoing and the front office will be "aggressive" in trying to add pieces at the trade deadline and in the offseason, but he believes in the young core he assembled to fit his vision as a defense-first team.

"The pieces (of the entire roster) fitting together — that's still to be determined," Weaver said. "(Jaden) Ivey starting in the backcourt with Cade is starting to be really productive. Ausar Thompson, who is a Swiss Army knife, started off great and now is trying to find his way back — we think he fits. ... The fit is to be determined, but Cade and (Jalen) Duren fit, and top athletes with Ivey and Ausar absolutely (do). I think the young core, and (Isaiah) Stewart and what he brings, those guys fit."

Weaver wouldn't tip his hand when asked how the team is approaching the trade deadline but said the front office will look at every option to try to make immediate improvements because the team wants to win right now.

"We want to be aggressive now," Weaver said firmly. "Does it mean we're going to make big deals? I don't know. But we're going to be aggressive in trying to improve this roster. (The roster) is what it is. I recognize what it is and we have to improve the roster. And we'll do that."

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He said his vision for a defense-first team aligns with how Williams and the coaching staff have approached the season by "grinding on guys" every day to improve on that end of the floor. Despite that emphasis, Detroit is 26th in points allowed (122.6 per game) and opponent field goal percentage (49.2%) while averaging fewer shots per game than its opponents due to leading the league in turnovers per game (16.4).

For him, improvement centers around two-way development for the young core while trying to add complementary veterans around them. He acknowledged how the Houston Rockets, who entered Friday at 17-15, have jumpstarted their rebuild by injecting veterans such as Fred VanVleet into the roster, but said the Pistons will only go as far as the young core can take them in their development.

"Do we need to get some more shooting around Cade? Absolutely," Weaver said. "But that's what the veterans are for. They showed it (against the Jazz). I have to say we haven't had Morris, but we get a healthy Bogdanovic and (Alec) Burks going, it helps. We definitely do have to continue to add more shooting but I think that's the fit piece that we'll continue to look at. But shooting is at a premium. Everyone wants shooting but we have to make sure we defend. I've said it and will continue to say it — we won't be the Pistons until we defend at a high level."

Weaver said multiple times the plan was to build around the young talent on the roster, but more specifically Cunningham, who has embraced his role as a leader both on and off the court. Cunningham has been the face of the franchise throughout the misery while taking a leap on the court in his return from shin surgery, averaging 23.2 points and 7.5 assists as the focal point of the offense.

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Cunningham, who was also interviewed on the podcast, said he has faith in his individual game to continue to develop into being "the guy" the Pistons need to turn the franchise around, while also having faith in his teammates and the coaching staff to get better and start producing wins.

"I feel like I can do a lot of the things that I want to do on the court," Cunningham said. But knowing that, there are still so many things that I feel like I can add to my game, so that gives me a lot of hope. But also just you know my team is young. We have a lot of players that can play — we have good players. I trust coach Monty, I trust the system that he's instilled in us I trust the way that he talks to us and the way that he cares about us and trusts us. There's a lot of things that give me hope with the organization. We just have to figure it out.

There are conversations every day, Weaver said, between the front office and coaching staff on how to adjust and try to find answers to end the nonstop losing. He and Williams have been in "lockstep" in conversations about how to improve the team and embrace the challenge of maximizing the talent on the roster while trying to escape the NBA's cellar.

"I've learned, being in an intimate setting with him, is he's an everyday guy who stays on it," Weaver said. "He doesn't relent to what's going on, he continues to hold the guys accountable."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons' Troy Weaver: There's purpose for the pain