Here's what Troy Weaver liked about the Pistons' season in his first year as GM: "We laid the groundwork for our future success."
Here's what he hated: the 20-52 record.
"20 wins don’t sit well with me at all," Weaver said Monday. "I don’t like anything about it. I don’t like the way it looks, I don’t like the way it smells. The only way to improve that is, I gotta come back better."
So do the players. Which makes this a crucial summer for the Pistons. The season might be over, but their work's just getting started. That goes for the rookies, the vets and everyone in between.
"This offseason’s going to be a lot of blood sweat and tears," Weaver said. "This 20 wins is not happening again. We gotta go to work, and it’s going to be a group mentality to get us out of it. So they’re going to be here working. Wherever they’re going to be, they’re going to be working. If they have a Pistons uniform on, they’re going to work this summer."
Don't get Weaver wrong. He's pleased with the growth the Pistons showed this season. He's proud of the way they competed. He said the optimism within the building reminds of when he was assistant GM of the Thunder and the team won 23 games in 2008-09. Oklahoma City drafted James Harden fourth overall that summer and won 50 games the next season.
"I've been here," Weaver said. "We won 23 games and we were very optimistic that we could continue to grow, and I have the same feelings here that I had back in that 08-09 season. Obviously the optimism is not in the record, because the record stinks, but we’ll continue to fight, claw, scratch, whatever we gotta do to get out of this hole. And we’re going to do it together."
That 08-09 Thunder team also already had Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in place. The Pistons aren't as poised to break through next season. But they'll pick no lower than sixth in the draft this summer, a chance to add a star to a young core that features two All-Rookie candidates in Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart. Weaver also expects to sign a couple free agents.
Otherwise, "the answers for the Pistons moving forward are all in-house," he said. "It’s our internal development and growth, and that will be our focus this summer."
When Weaver arrived last summer, he said the Pistons' restoration would start with the right people. Then he gutted the roster and added the people he wanted, from rookies like Bey and Stewart to veterans like Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee to young castoffs like Hamadou Diallo and Frank Jackson. Now it's time to build on the foundation in place.
"We’re going to double down," he said. "We’re not going to change anything. We’re going to continue to bring in likeminded people who fit what we’re trying to do. We won’t get cute or go astray or look for what’s popular."
It was a long season for the Pistons, but not a lost one. They finally found a path toward long-term success. Now comes the hard part, starting this summer.
"When I took the job I had one goal in mind, and that was to restore the Pistons. And I won’t stop, I won’t quit until that happens," Weaver said. "We’re going to be unwavering on how to get there. We’re going to stay true to ourselves and really be committed to doing things the Piston way.
"The optimism inside these walls comes from us doing things the right way and the belief that we have in each other that we can make it happen."