We can see it, Dwane Casey can see it. And maybe the rest of the NBA can see it, too. The Pistons are moving up. For the first time in a long time, this franchise has a future.
It's yet to show up in the record, but it's clear on the floor. As GM Troy Weaver said earlier this season: "Tune in and watch. We compete." With a core of young players and the right complement of vets, the Pistons this year made losing basketball look good.
"It’s exciting, it’s fun," Casey said Friday on the Stoney & Jansen Show. "The losses hurt, but I can see the growth of a young man like Saddiq Bey, the growth of a young man like Frank Jackson, Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart and all those kids. They’re such talented young men, and young men with character. That’s the kind of foundation you want to pour to become a perennial winner."
In Bey and Stewart, the Pistons have two All-Rookie candidates. In Jerami Grant, they have a Most Improved Player candidate and the best free agent signing of the year. They're about to add another shiny piece in the draft. From top to bottom, this roster is markedly better than the one Weaver inherited.
Which is good, because it still needs help. And help for a small-market team is hard to find in free agency as it is. A small-market team with no direction taxes itself twice. It spends $42 million on Jon Leuer or $54 million on Josh Smith. A small-market team with a future can attract better players at a better price.
So whenever Weaver decides to bolster the foundation in place, the Pistons might actually have some appeal. And the 2018 NBA Coach of the Year isn't such a bad selling point himself.
"Free agency will be good to us down the road because I think people outside see the same growth," Casey said. "They don’t look at the record because there’s some good things going on besides that. We’ll be able to sell that to free agents when the time is right."
Weaver won't be shopping for stars. Ideally, the stars will come from within. He'll be searching for players who can boost a team on the rise. If the Pistons enter next summer several spots higher on the Eastern Conference ladder, the time might be right. They can sell more than hope and perhaps buy what they're missing.
Then again, Weaver might be shopping for stars already. $60 million for Grant looked like another reach by a small-market bidder. Now it looks like a bargain. Stars only cost a fortune when they're visible to everyone. How many teams overlooked Bey before he fell to 19th in the draft? This is all part of Weaver's plan, striking at the right time on the right players.
The Pistons already have tons of cap space. The expiration of Blake Griffin's contract will bring more. This is on top of the surcharge they're shedding. Good players don't want to play for bad teams, so bad teams tend to pay the wrong players. So long as their upward trajectory continues, the Pistons can pay good players at a fair price. They can actually exploit free agency.
We've watched a lot of last-place teams in this city of late. This year's Pistons were by far the most competitive, and easily the most entertaining. Might not be long before they reap the rewards.
"There will be good things down the road," Casey said. "When that’s going to happen, next year, the year after that, it’s coming. It’s growing right before our eyes."