The Detroit Pistons are a team looking to improve off of what was yet another disappointing season. They finished last season as the number 12 team in the lottery for the 2nd straight year after making the playoffs in 2015-2016.
Let’s take a look at 3 goals they should look to achieve for this upcoming season.
3. Earn a Playoff Spot
This one is pretty obvious, but also the most important goal. After acquiring Blake Griffin at last year’s trade deadline, the organization knew that they would likely see the benefits of the trade this upcoming season as opposed to last season. Even though Stan Van Gundy and Jeff Bower, the men responsible for making that trade, are gone Tom Gores signed off on the move because he has always talked about wanting the Pistons to have a “star” and to compete for the playoffs. He backed up that sentiment by hiring reigning Coach of the Year Dwane Casey and hiring Ed Stefanski to lead the front office.
He could have gone with a young, unproven coach or a young, unproven executive with the intention of tearing everything down and starting over, but he went all in with the current roster and got guys who have been around and could find younger coaches and executives who they could mentor and mold.
All of the moves that the Pistons made in the offseason further proved that they are going all in on making the playoffs. They did not trade any of their core pieces in Blake Griffin, Reggie Jackson, or Andre Drummond and signed a couple of veterans in Jose Calderon and Zaza Pachulia. They added a solid backup wing with upside in Glenn Robinson III and they also held onto players like Ish Smith and Reggie Bullock, solid role players who will help the team in their goal of making the playoffs. There has been no talk out of the Pistons of tearing it down and rebuilding, which means that making the playoffs no matter what it takes is the ultimate goal.
The only potential blockade of the Pistons goal of making the playoffs would be injuries to one of their key players, which leads to my next goal.
Next Up: Goal 2
