My thoughts on how the Detroit Pistons should take an aggressive approach this offseason to improve one of the worst teams in NBA history were documented earlier this week.
So, enough from me.
To get another point of view on Detroit’s season, what it should do this offseason in both free agency and the NBA Draft, as well as the root of its issues, I’ve tapped national colleague and draft guru Sam Vecenie to discuss the Pistons from a national perspective.
Below, I offer up a few different scenarios to Vecenie while trying to gauge where he sees the Pistons needing to concentrate most this offseason both in terms of player personnel and beyond. Enjoy.
Edwards: Before we get started, do you want to vent at all about the Pistons’ season?
Vecenie: I mean, I think the less we say about it, the better, right? It’s really difficult to have organizational success when you’re the worst-coached team in the league and also have what I think is a front office living on borrowed time. I don’t think Monty Williams had any great answers necessarily, given that Troy Weaver and Co. built a roster without any two-way players, without much shooting, and relying on a significant number of extremely young, defensively-questionable players.
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But I thought Williams’ rotational choices throughout the year were egregiously bad. He routinely would play over 10 players in his rotations, including all-bench configurations that boggled the mind. It felt throughout the season like this was just a grand experiment for him and that he never found any of the answers he was looking for. He’d start players who weren’t good enough to be in the NBA, like Killian Hayes, over significant long-term investments like Jaden Ivey. Offensively, there didn’t seem to be a cohesive, overarching principle in terms of shot distribution or a modern offensive scheme. Nothing he did felt like it had any rhyme or reason. It was just vibes.
I mostly felt bad for the players, many of whom I think will go on to have successful NBA careers. It just didn’t feel like they were well-positioned for success. Cade Cunningham particularly had it rough. The lineup Cunningham played the most minutes with this season was alongside Ivey, Isaiah Stewart, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren. None of those players are guys that teams are remotely worried about as shooters, giving Cunningham precious little space to attack the midrange on his drives, an area he particularly needs some room within to thrive. I don’t think it’s an accident that lineups with Cunningham and Simone Fontecchio actually found success, as Fontecchio’s gravity as a shooter was immediately evident. Lineups with Cunningham and Bojan Bogdanović also found success, as the Pistons scored 117.7 points per 100 possessions when they were out there together. The issue was that Bogdanović was done defensively by the end of his time in Detroit, and they also gave up 128 points per 100 possessions, per PBP Stats.
Seriously, the only thing that matters for the Pistons this offseason should be putting Cunningham in a position to thrive. He’s the only player on this roster who has genuinely proven that he is a significant long-term building block for the organization. As much as I love Ivey’s athleticism, he needs to grow on defense and figure out his decision-making tree. As much as Duren has shown flashes, his lack of defensive growth this season was a significant issue. Thompson has so far to go offensively that it’s hard to totally trust him. Cunningham is the guy here, so the Pistons need to do everything they can to find guys who can shoot and defend to put around him. That’s why I liked the Fontecchio and Grimes moves at the deadline, and why I’m intrigued to see what direction they go in this summer. I think they have a future NBA All-Star in Cunningham. They just need to help him.
Edwards: OK, now that is out of the way, let me put a draft-centric scenario in front of you. I believe that the Pistons should trade whichever draft pick they land this year. The draft is meh, to put it nicely. And, while I’m sure there will end up being an All-NBA-caliber player(s) in it, the situation Detroit put itself in makes me believe it can’t afford to develop another young player when it needs to add more proven talent.
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So … two questions: Do you think the Pistons should trade the pick if they get No. 1? Do you think the No. 1 pick could net a good-to-great return?
Vecenie: I mean, it’s all about what the offer is, right? I’m all for them looking around and seeing what’s on the market. That makes all the sense in the world to me. If I was working in a front office, I’d absolutely be trying to move out of one of these top-eight picks and explore what’s out there. But it takes two to tango, and a lot of the teams I’ve talked to aren’t exactly enthusiastic about this draft. I wouldn’t make a trade just to make a trade.
In general, I understand your premise, though. Another factor worth noting for the Pistons is that this draft isn’t exactly loaded with guys at the top of the class who project as strong shooters from Day 1 in the NBA. Alexandre Sarr has a ways to go there. Stephon Castle, Ron Holland and Cody Williams are projects as shooters. I think Matas Buzelis will probably shoot at some point, but he’s not an immediate shooter from distance. Zaccharie Risacher is hitting 38 percent from 3 in France right now on the season, but he’s in the middle of a serious wall over the last three months where he’s made just 16 of his 70 3-point attempts, good for a robust 22 percent. If I was the Pistons, I would be exceedingly hesitant about adding another questionable shooter to this young core.
In terms of what the No. 1 overall pick would net in this class? I’m not totally sure. I’ve informally asked evaluators this question throughout the season and haven’t really gotten a consensus. One evaluator went as far as to say that they felt the salary that his team would have to expend at No. 1 overall (a deal in the ballpark of $60 million over four years) would be a significant risk and unlikely to actually return commensurate salary value. Thus, they wouldn’t want the pick. A couple evaluators thought the pick would be in the range of what it cost to acquire something in the ballpark of the No. 4 or 5 overall pick in a normal draft. A couple more thought just outside the top five in terms of pick value was right. Those are still valuable assets, but not anywhere near the normal value attached to a No. 1 selection. Speculating off of what that one evaluator told me earlier this year, I wonder if it might be easier to construct trades for something like the No. 6 overall pick (where the salary commitments will be in the $35 million range over four years) as opposed to the No. 1 pick, given that evaluators think this class is relatively flat talent-wise at the top.
Edwards: Here’s another scenario: If you were Detroit, would you shop around two young players and the No. 1 pick (or Nos. 2 or 3 pick) could get you in a trade? Let’s just use Ivey and Duren for example, as I believe Cunningham is untouchable and Ausar Thompson isn’t quite untouchable but close to it. I had a piece on Wednesday that had this hypothetical deal: No. 1 pick, Ivey and Duren for Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith and a 2025, top-14 protected first (via Suns).
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Vecenie: Sure, I’d be willing to explore deals like that. I think it makes total sense. Again, to me, the goal is to surround Cunningham with the best pieces possible around him. That doesn’t necessarily lock in anyone but him as an untouchable player. I just don’t know how much other teams will be interested in that before the draft.
In terms of that Nets deal, for instance, I actually don’t think the Nets would do that right now. Much as I disagree with their strategy, I think their goal is to pair Bridges with another star and see where that leads, not necessarily to rebuild. And honestly, I wonder if the Nets would get more appealing offers than that for Bridges. That might not be the top offer on the table for him if they were to actually make him available. He’s one of the premier role players leaguewide.
On top of that, if the Pistons are considering going down the road of consolidating young assets, I think they really need to focus on acquiring players who would be there long term as opposed to guys with two years or fewer left on their deals. Great as a fit as Bridges is with Cunningham, he only has two years left on his bargain contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent. If the Pistons are bad again next year, they would probably need to move him again in the summer. That feels short-sighted to move all of those young players for a player on such a short-term deal.
To compare what that would be to what the Rockets did last offseason to jump-start their rebuild, the Rockets acquired Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks in free agency as opposed to via trade. They didn’t give up anything to get them. I think if you’re acquiring veterans, they need to come via free agency or via trade where the Pistons are using their cap space to take on talented players for lesser costs. For instance, is there a chance that the Hawks just look to get off of the De’Andre Hunter contract for tax avoidance and Jalen Johnson-based reasons this summer? Hunter can at least shoot, and, while he hasn’t reached the immense defensive promise that many thought he had pre-draft, he is at least a big body that you can throw on other opposing players and is at least conscientious on that end. To me, a deal to acquire Hunter’s expensive three-year, $70 million remaining deal for a couple of second-round picks is preferable to the Pistons spending way too much money to sign someone like Tobias Harris. At least Hunter is still only 26 years old and on the right age timeline.
Otherwise, if you’re combining multiple assets like this pick, Ivey, and Duren, I think you’re doing so with a goal more looking toward either a genuine All-Star (something that, much as I love Bridges, I don’t think he is) or toward team-controlled players who you maybe believe fit better next to Cunningham than the incumbent young players who were drafted seemingly without much regard for how they fit together on a roster.
Edwards: Lastly, and I may be wrong here, I think there are going to be a lot more bad teams in the NBA next season. A lot of those fringe playoff squads may look to enter tank mode in order to get near the top of the absolutely stacked 2025 NBA Draft, which is highlighted by Cooper Flagg. If I were the Pistons, I’d seriously consider using the pick and one or two young pieces to try and capitalize on that and attempt to add as many legitimate role players as possible, and maybe even a star becomes available. A team like Brooklyn, as I mentioned above, comes to mind. With Detroit having so much cap space and a few assets to play with, are there any trade partners you like for the Pistons in a scenario like this?
Vecenie: Yeah, I don’t know if I agree that there will be more bad teams. You’re right that there will be teams that take a step back. But a few of the teams that were bad this season will undoubtedly take a step forward, too. For instance, Memphis is absolutely going to be back to its 45-plus-win ways next year with Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Marcus Smart back. Victor Wembanyama is coming, and the Spurs are just as well-positioned to take steps forward along with him. Honestly, I think Charlotte could be well-positioned to take a bit of a step with a leap from Brandon Miller and the return of LaMelo Ball, if he can stay healthy.
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Even with all of these assets, given the depleted free-agency class, I would be surprised to see the Pistons take a significant step forward next year. It might happen, but I don’t see them as one of the teams best-positioned to do so, at least. That’s why I am in favor of them moving on from this current front office even beyond the plan to bring in a new president of basketball operations. I would want nobody in that front office who is trying to save their jobs by signing veterans to deals that could look exceptionally bad in 12 months time.
Having said that, they do need to bring in veterans. I mentioned one potential partner that certainly makes sense to me in Atlanta above. Your idea of trying to work with Brooklyn makes sense if they finally bite the bullet and rebuild. Finney-Smith would help them. I think the Pistons desperately need a defensive big man, and would strongly look to try to sign Isaiah Hartenstein beyond any offer the Knicks can present him given that they will only have his Early Bird rights. A true defensive big would be a serious upgrade given how bad the Pistons bigs have been on defense the past couple of seasons. Maybe Toronto with Jakob Poeltl could be an interesting option as an elite screener and good defender if the Raps try to go in a different direction there.
Again though, it does come back to coaching for me in some respect. Williams has to be willing to make adjustments and be better than he was this year. Otherwise, it’s not going to matter who they sign, and this cycle will continue again.
(Photo of the 2023 NBA Draft: David Dow / NBAE via Getty Images)