Well, it was a fun week around the NBA but now that 3pm Feb. 7th has passed, the league and its followers turn their focus towards the draft or playoffs. There are 30 teams across the Association and for the most part, fans of these teams understand the direction they are looking towards now that the calendar has flipped over. However, if you are a fan of the Detroit Pistons you happen to fall into this little mix of teams who are stuck wondering what is next. The Pistons are currently 1.5 games out of the final playoff spot but appeared to make deals this past week that looked as if they were becoming sellers. I will not use this space to try and pick my side as to whether or not I believe the Pistons should tank or push for the playoffs, but I will use it to point out that I am just as confused as most. I surely was not pulling for a move towards acquiring Mike Conley, but note that I was still surprised late Tuesday night to find out the Pistons moved SG Reggie Bullock. My surprise didn't come at the deal itself because on the surface the deal makes sense for the participating parties. The Lakers needed to bolster their depth of shooters, and the Pistons were able to move an expiring contract for a young project and some draft capital. This deal along with the straight swap that saw Stanley Johnson head to the Bucks for Thon Maker showed me signs of a team who was looking at getting younger as fast as they could. This is all fine and well until the reports continue about the potential of the Pistons buying, or trying to make moves towards the playoffs. Let us be clear, there was not a concrete market for the contracts of Blake Griffin or Andre Drummond, but the Pistons should have tried to clear the deck totally, or they should've kept Bullock and Johnson to pursue the playoffs.
Do the Pistons try and make the playoffs now? They are certainly a worse basketball team than they were a day ago, which is not a bad thing given the strong dynamic of the Eastern Conference's top dogs, but this leaves a fan base wondering what to think going forward. At the end of the day, I believe the most important take away from this trade deadline is that the Pistons still possess their first round pick in this year's draft. The last 5 years for the Pistons have been historically awful, given that outside of Luke Kennard (a 6th man/fringe starter at best) the Pistons have gotten very minimal production from the draft. With so much money tied up in 'Dre and Blake, the Pistons MUST develop through the draft, along with assuring that Thon Maker and Luke Kennard develop as well. The Pistons fan base has been through a lot but it has been a decade since this team has won a playoff game, these fans need a spark, something to get behind for years to come. If I knew the answer that the team was looking for, I probably wouldn't be writing a personal blog right now, so the best bet is to hang in there and just hope the Pistons trend towards bettering their basketball future, not always their bottom line.
Do the Pistons try and make the playoffs now? They are certainly a worse basketball team than they were a day ago, which is not a bad thing given the strong dynamic of the Eastern Conference's top dogs, but this leaves a fan base wondering what to think going forward. At the end of the day, I believe the most important take away from this trade deadline is that the Pistons still possess their first round pick in this year's draft. The last 5 years for the Pistons have been historically awful, given that outside of Luke Kennard (a 6th man/fringe starter at best) the Pistons have gotten very minimal production from the draft. With so much money tied up in 'Dre and Blake, the Pistons MUST develop through the draft, along with assuring that Thon Maker and Luke Kennard develop as well. The Pistons fan base has been through a lot but it has been a decade since this team has won a playoff game, these fans need a spark, something to get behind for years to come. If I knew the answer that the team was looking for, I probably wouldn't be writing a personal blog right now, so the best bet is to hang in there and just hope the Pistons trend towards bettering their basketball future, not always their bottom line.
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