In their three seasons under Troy Weaver, the Pistons have the most losses in the NBA. Of course, their misery go deeper than that. Only the Magic have more losses over the last 10 seasons. This year, the Pistons say they're ready to emerge from the abyss.
"We want to compete," Weaver said Monday. "Every game is going to mean something, 1 to 82."
They said the same thing last year, you might remember. Then franchise centerpiece Cade Cunningham went down for the season in October, injuries piled up across the rest of the roster, and the Pistons finished with the worst record in the NBA and the second worst in franchise history: 17-65. Jump forward a year and Weaver says "this is the most depth we've had" in his tenure as GM.
Cunningham is healthy, and dominated in scrimmages with USA Basketball this summer. His back-court sidekick Jaden Ivey has a year of experience under his belt, as does 19-year-old Jalen Duren, who looks like a front-court force. The Pistons have added a defensive menace in fifth overall pick Ausar Thompson, and tout a trio of proven outside scorers in Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Harris and Alec Burks. They have more bigs than they might know what to do with in Isaiah Stewart, James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley III.
"We want to build this thing the right way so it can be a sustained model," said Weaver. "The best analogy I have, we didn’t want to microwave this process. We wanted to put it in the oven and make sure all the ingredients were there and got cooked there right way."
If Weaver is the curator, that makes Monty Williams the new chef. Lured to Detroit with the biggest head coaching contract in NBA history, Williams did with the Suns what the Pistons are aiming to do now. Phoenix had the most losses in the NBA the three seasons prior to Williams' arrival in 2019; he led the team to 34, 51 and 64 wins the next three seasons, including a trip to the NBA Finals. These Pistons might be poised to make a similar jump.
"The basketball piece is what I know," Williams said Monday, "but to be a part of something like this right now in this community, to see it grow and to be a part of that growth, to hear the pride of different fans around town talk about what it used to be and what it can be, it’s a great deal of healthy pressure that I feel to help the people in this community feel good about their team. That excites me."
It's been a long time coming for the Pistons, who haven't won a playoff game in 15 years. That's the last time this town truly felt good about this team. The Pistons of yesterday were built on defense, which is Weaver's blueprint for the Pistons of today. They allowed 118.5 points per game last season, fourth worst in the NBA. Weaver, and Williams, expect a drastic improvement this season.
"I’ve never seen any turnaround in any sport without defense being the central focus of that," Weaver said. "For us to become the team we want to become, defense will be at the forefront. ... We aren’t the Pistons until we defend. I talked to the players and told them that, and Coach Williams and his group understand that."
In what he calls the restoration of the Pistons, Weaver has emphasized the Three D's: development, discipline and defense. We've seen them on display in spurts, but never long enough to make a difference. The Pistons haven't won more than three games in a row in the last three seasons -- and they've only done that twice. But with a deeper roster and "the new coaching staff coming in, we're expecting to take a big step forward," said Weaver.
"Realistic goal for our team is to play 82 meaningful games," he said. "We want to go down to the wire, every game, playing for something. We want to be in contention for the entire season."
To Weaver, development isn't something as simple as one player improving his shooting. It's about all of them establishing a collective identity, "being able to focus and maintain their effort for longer stretches so that they can have a sustained ethos about the way they play the game on both ends of the floor," he said. In that sense, the Pistons have spent the past three seasons developing.
"And now it’s time for those guys to step up," said Weaver. "You gotta earn your minutes. Nothing will be given this season, and the best man will win."