Troy Weaver says he's "unwavering" in his plan to restore the Pistons as they drag their reputation through the mud. In the wake of a deadline in which he traded his two best shooters and released the first draft pick of his protracted rebuild, Weaver spoke on Friday like a general manager who knows he'll be here into the future. Even as the Pistons' winning ways slip further -- and further -- into the past.
"Absolutely I’m the right guy (for the job)," Weaver said. "I sat here in June of 2020 and said we’re going to restore the Pistons, and that’s what we’re going to do. We have a plan in place, we have a young core that’s showing they’re growing and have a chance to be special players, and it’s on us to continue to fortify that group. We own what’s behind us, but more importantly, we’re excited about what’s ahead of us. I’m on assignment to restore the Pistons and that absolutely will happen."
The Pistons have the worst record in the NBA in four seasons under Weaver, not that it's entirely on him. They've been a mess for a while, and Weaver is right when he says "we had a lot to clean up first." Truth is, the Pistons have the worst record in the NBA over the last five seasons, the last 10 seasons and the last 15 seasons.Trouble is, they've somehow gotten worse. Their winning percentage has declined each of the last three seasons, despite the addition of several lottery picks to the roster. At 8-43, the current Pistons are stumbling toward the worst season in franchise history, after narrowly avoiding it last season.
On Friday, Weaver said a lot of things he's said before, that the Pistons have a "core in place" and their books in order, that they "expected to take a step forward this year" but injuries held them back, that they "continue to add to our identity with defense and shooting" even though they still can't defend and still can't really shoot, that they're "getting our feet under us now" thanks to two wins in the shadow of a 28-game losing streak, that "the concrete has been poured." The words sound good, but that's all they are. The concrete has cracks.
"Obviously because of where we've been with our record, changes needed to be made," Weaver said. "We wanted to shift the energy. We’re working away at making sure we continue to build the roster, but more importantly, complement our young core. That didn’t happen the first half of the season, for various reasons, but not going to cry over spilt milk. We didn’t get it done. And that’s on me."
Weaver has pointed the finger at himself lots, a sure sign that he's part of the problem. He's also given himself votes of confidence, as he did Friday. His reasoning often seems sound, which is enough to satisfy owner Tom Gores, a businessman who doesn't know ball. He throws money at big-name coaches like Monty Williams, who hasn't helped solve the problem himself, ignoring that the irredeemable roster is a reflection of the GM.
After releasing former seventh overall pick Killian Hayes, the original member of his "Core Four" that's been reduced to Isaiah Stewart, Weaver said Hayes had all the tools but just never learned how to shoot, which is only the most important tool in today's NBA. After trading Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks without getting significant draft capital in return, Weaver suggested he got something better: "a younger version of those guys" in Quentin Grimes, a shooter who can also defend. Weaver said the same of Simone Fontecchio, acquired for Kevin Knox and a second-round pick.
Grimes and Fonteccio could be, in theory, solid pieces on a winning team. Indeed, everything about Weaver's vision is theoretical. Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey could be a great backcourt duo, if they just learn how to play together. Weaver points to Thursday night, when they combined for 49 points in the Pistons' win over Portland, as proof of their compatibility as if their first 50-plus games together didn't say otherwise. Jalen Duren and Stewart could comprise a solid frontcourt, but Stewart is no starter on a contender. Ausar Thompson could be Weaver's version of Andre Iguodala, just as long as he's not Weaver's next version of Hayes: an athlete who can't shoot.
Cunningham, Ivey, Duren and Thompson could be a decent core. But if that's all Weaver has to show for five lottery picks among eight first-rounders, a slew of free agent acquisitions that haven't helped and countless trades for players who haven't made a difference, what more are we waiting to see? The cap space he loves to tout is an empty promise each summer.
"We just haven’t been a cohesive unit," Weaver said. "It's important that as we go through this, we gain some cohesion and some momentum as we try to forge forward."
Weaver insists that his young nucleus just needs time to gel, Cunningham and Ivey in particular. And "when you go through a restoring," he said, "the thing that people don't like to give you is time." The Pistons and their long-suffering fans have given Weaver four years, which is more time than most GM's with his record are afforded, no matter the sport or circumstance. Weaver didn't come to Detroit with much proven front-office savvy aside from endorsing Russell Westbrook in a long-ago draft, and has done nothing to burnish his stature or that of the Pistons. They once had a presence in the NBA, bullies who belonged. These days they're pushovers.
Were it not for an owner who keeps half an eye on his team from the other end of the country, Weaver would likely be gone by now. Gores' detachment from this wreck is the lone reason his GM keeps failing to fix it. His emotional distance from the losing is exactly why he voices sentiments like "other than winning," as he did this season in dismissing the full-throated chants of "Sell The Team!" at Little Caesars Arena. Weaver said that Gores "stays on me every day on making sure we get this thing in the right direction, and we’re excited about that challenge." Is anyone else?
"Taken a little longer, but that’s only going to make us stronger. You gotta go through the rough waters to get to the smooth sailing. We’re looking forward to brighter days and that will happen soon enough," Weaver said. "I know the fans are hurting and they want a winner on the floor no more than we do. We’ll turn over every stone and work our tails off to put a team on the floor they can be proud of."
More words, which you can choose to believe or not. You might not have a choice, with Gores apparently content to keep Weaver at the helm. These feel worse than rough waters; the Pistons feel like a franchise that's run aground. They rise with the tide of each draft, then sink when the season starts anew. Weaver says that "we’re proving to be going in the right direction the last few nights," as if everyone is like Gores, immune to the last few years.