For Detroit Pistons, season's final third will be about establishing a brighter future

omari sankofa ii, detroit free press

Thu, Feb 15, 2024, 6:03 PM·5 min read

PHOENIX — The Detroit Pistons have had a wild week leading up to NBA All-Star break.

A five-game West Coast road trip, bookended by two sets of back-to-backs. Multiple trades leading up to last Thursday’s deadline, followed by five players being released. And a significantly altered roster learning how to play with each other on the fly.

Through it all, the Pistons finished the trip with 2-3 record — not a bad result for a team entering All-Star weekend with an NBA-worst eight wins and 46 losses. It began with wins over the Sacramento Kings and Portland Trail Blazers, followed by a close loss to the Los Angeles Clippers, before consecutive blowout defeats to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday and Phoenix Suns on Wednesday.

It sets the stage for a busy final third of the season. With Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks no longer around, the remaining 28 games will be all about the young core — with Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren leading the way.

Cade Cunningham reacts during the second half of the Pistons' 116-100 loss to the Suns on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in Phoenix.

Cunningham, 22, is the oldest of the trio. And he’s aware closing the season on a strong note, with so much roster change having just taken place, will be a unique challenge. One day, everyone knew what they were doing and knew their spots on the floor, Cunningham said. Then a whole half of the roster was swapped out.

“Most of the guys that stayed, all of us being so young, it’s on us to show everybody what the tone is and lead, and for young guys leading older guys, sometimes that’s a different position too, to be in," he said. "It’s a new opportunity for us, as the young core, and we’ve done a hard job at it. But the second half of the season will be a test for us and we have to bring it.”

The Pistons are now focusing on figuring out what they have ahead of an offseason expected to bring more roster change. They will get extended looks at their two primary deadline acquisitions — Simone Fontecchio and Quentin Grimes — as well as how Cunningham and the rest of the young players respond to having larger roles on and off the floor.

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For the coaching staff, it means spending a bit more time in the office than they normally would during the down period. The new acquisitions — including Troy Brown Jr., Shake Milton, Evan Fournier and Malachi Flynn — have only had two practices with their new team.

“I’m looking forward to a few days of (family time), but also evaluating how to put this new roster together,” coach Monty Williams said after Wednesday’s 116-100 loss in Phoenix. “Making a trade on the road, I’m not sure if I’ve done it in this fashion where we’ve had this much change, from releasing guys to bringing guys in on the fly. I’m hopeful that we’ll have a chance to get everybody acclimated. I’ve gotta spend some time over break looking at what we have to do to transition a little bit better than we have these last three games."

Williams said he'll head down to Texas this weekend to fish for a few days, then will be meeting with players and speaking with general manager Troy Weaver.

“I told our guys we’ve gotta come back with a great focus and determination to have some momentum going into the summer," Williams said. "That’s gonna require a lot of sacrifice and determination and focus. We want to be able to win some games, but also grow as a program the second part of the season.”

Wednesday’s pre-All Star finale against the Suns was a flop for the Pistons, who gave up a 26-2 run in the first half and trailed by as many as 35, before the back-end of the roster narrowed the deficit in garbage time. But when asked about the “drop-off” from their first two games of the trip to Wednesday, Williams acknowledged it’s normal for a team that has undergone a lot of change to have an adjustment period.

But the Pistons, on pace for the worst record in franchise history, only have six weeks left to set a stronger tone for next season. Their ability to add more wins down the stretch will come down to their ability to adapt, as well as the young players seizing bigger leadership roles that have been thrust suddenly upon them.

THE FUTURE: Pistons trades should answer critical question: Can Cunningham and Ivey co-exist?

Pistons coach Monty Williams reacts during the first half on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024, in Phoenix.

They expect to be healthier. Grimes has yet to make his debut with a knee sprain, and an ankle sprain has cost Isaiah Stewart eight consecutive games. The big man could miss even more time due to punishment from his pregame altercation and arrest Wednesday, after punching Suns player Drew Eubanks.

“I get the use of the phrase ‘drop-off,'” Williams said. “I just think when you’re trying to incorporate that many guys on the fly, you’re going to have some sort of slippage. We lost guys to trades, release, how many guys did we release that we played in the rotation? We traded guys that were in the rotation. Next minute you know, Evan Fournier is sixth man and he hasn’t played in who knows (how long). That’s a part of the deal, but it is difficult.

“We’ve got some time to figure it out, and hopefully we’ll get Stewy back and get Quentin back and we’ll be able to settle the roster down a little bit as far as who’s playing, and the long stretches of minutes that we’re playing guys.”

Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa. Listen and subscribe to "The Pistons Pulse" podcast for inside tidbits and analysis on the team, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify).

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