Tom Gores facing new test with Detroit Pistons misfortune 20 games into season
We don’t have to rehash the Detroit Pistons’ failed swings in the last decade — Josh Smith and Blake Griffin top that list.
The franchise, which hasn’t won a playoff game in 15 seasons, has learned the hard way that being impatient with a rebuild can have lasting repercussions.
Owner Tom Gores has since adopted a gentler approach, entrusting his latest general manager, Troy Weaver, to go the slow route in building a team the city can be proud of. The Pistons have lost at a prolific rate since Weaver took over in 2020, their past three seasons ending with 20, 23, and 17 wins, the last being the NBA’s lowest win total in 2022-23.
It’s the worst three-year stretch in franchise history, advertised as a step necessary to set a foundation that will allow the team to contend, eventually, for years on end.
“The support from the ownership group as we’ve gone through this has been tremendous,” Weaver said during media day Oct. 2. “It’s not easy when you’re going through a retool, reboot, rebuild. We’re calling it a restoring. It’s not easy. Not easy for the ownership group, not easy for the fans. But we’re building it the right way so we can have a sustained model. We don’t want to microwave this process. We want to put it in the oven and make sure all the ingredients in there get cooked the right way.”
But a quarter into a season that was supposed to show progress after years of table-setting, it has become clear there is no bottom.
The Pistons, a league-worst 2-18 after Saturday's loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, have set a franchise record with 17 consecutive losses. They were winless in November.
It continues what may end up being their bleakest year — from Feb. 12 through Saturday, the Pistons are 4-41. That’s a 7.3 win pace over an 82-game season, which would be the worst mark in NBA history.
The worst team in franchise history, the 1979-80 Pistons, won 16 games. The worst team in an 82-game season in NBA history, the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, lost 21 of their first 22 games and finished with nine wins.
This was not part of the plan. The “big step forward” alluded to on media day is nowhere in sight. And as the losses continue to pile, it’s fair to wonder if Gores, once again, will eventually be forced to shift gears and adopt a different approach.
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Why are the Pistons so bad?
There’s no one reason why this season has gone off of the rails. Rather, it’s a combination of things at the top of the list: Young players not taking expected steps forward, veterans missing significant time due to injury and a new head coach failing to maximize his new roster.
The Pistons have gotten little from the veterans they’ve recently traded for. Bojan Bogdanovic, fresh off a standout offensive season in which he led the team with an efficient 21.6 points per game, made his season debut Saturday night due to a calf injury. He was expected to be the 1B to Cade Cunningham’s 1A, a season after Cunningham played just 12 games due to shin surgery. Bogdanovic’s absence is one of many factors, but it has been felt.
Monte Morris, who the team anticipated would bring stability to a young backcourt with his sharpshooting and ball control, will likely miss most, if not all of January with a quad strain.
Joe Harris, who absorbed most of the team’s cap space this summer when the Pistons traded for him, has played in just seven games due to injury and struggled when he did see the floor, shooting 36% overall and 31.6% from 3.
The front office took a conservative approach to the offseason, banking on internal development to lead the way and allow the team to preserve its cap flexibility. So far, that gamble hasn’t paid off. Flint native and 2023 free agent Kyle Kuzma, who re-signed with the Washington Wizards for $90 million guaranteed over four years, torched the Pistons with 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists Monday to send them to their franchise-tying 14th straight loss.
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But perhaps most importantly, the Pistons have failed to play with the fire and consistency needed to win in the NBA. They’ve suffered their four worst losses of the season in their past seven games, and are now among the NBA’s worst defensive teams after an encouraging start in the opening week. They are bottom two in both turnovers and personal fouls per game, making their slim margin for error even slimmer.
Coach Monty Williams, signed by Gores to a record contract worth up to 8 years and $100 million, has acknowledged there is work to be done to get the team where it needs to be. He has toyed with lineups, shifting Jaden Ivey to and from the bench and finding new strategies to utilize Cunningham, who has had some big scoring nights but with underwhelming efficiency now in his third season.
“Our guys, they want it and it’s my job to show them what it looks like, how to get it,” Williams said after the team lost to the Los Angeles Lakes by 26 points Wednesday. “I just haven’t done it yet. That’s on me, nobody else but me. When I look in the mirror, I look at what we’re doing, I look at me. And I haven’t gotten our guys to consistently have the fight, the stamina, to push through.”
Ownership hasn’t abandoned hope — yet
Sources say Pistons brass is reluctant to hit the panic button — meaning a sweeping front office change looks unlikely for now. With three-fourths of the season remaining, there’s time for the roster to gel, and fortunes to turn. Bogdanovic’s return, at the very least, should make Cunningham’s life easier and give the team the firepower needed to be more competitive in tight games late.
But is there concern? Yes. This has been a worse start to the season than anyone could have imagined. It will take a significant improvement for them to just crack the 20-win threshold they reached two seasons ago. Clearly, there’s substantial work ahead to right the ship.
There’s no clear path out of the mud they’re stuck in, but they will soon have to forge one. Depending on which way the Pistons are trending a month from now, they could look to upgrade their roster by swinging a trade for a talented veteran.
Free agents who signed contracts with new teams over the summer will become trade eligible Dec. 15, opening a wider pool of available targets. Players who re-signed using Bird Rights at a raise greater than 120% of their previous salary will be eligible to be dealt Jan. 15. Like Kuzma. Or former Pistons forward, and current Portland Trail Blazer, Jerami Grant.
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But should the team continue to struggle, they should look to sell at the deadline. Alec Burks, Harris and Morris are all on expiring contracts. Bogdanovic is only guaranteed for $2 million next season. Similar to last season, contending teams will be interested.
The next few months of basketball will be telling.
“We have guys that are capable, and they’ve shown it,” Williams said. “When they showed it, the city was excited about it. We’ve gotta give this city something to be excited about.
"When you compete (with) purpose, it’s a different vibe. And that’s what we did in preseason and the first week. That’s what we’re fighting for. We’ve gotta get back to that and then try to push that. We’re a ways away from that right now.”
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him @omarisankofa.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons misfortune through 20 games a new test for Tom Gores
