The Pistons got ousted from the playoffs in the finals seconds and I couldn’t be happier
I have watched a lot of Detroit Pistons games. As a Pistons fan, I have watched the giving and receiving end of game-winning shots and elimination games. So when Jalen Brunson had the ball in a tie game and shook Ausar Thompson on a crossover to deliver a picture-perfect 3-point shot to eliminate the Pistons from the playoffs, I was shocked by what I felt.
Yes, there was the pain of losing a winnable game. More than pain, though, there was pure joy. I spent the rest of Thursday night smiling.
It was a reaction that even surprised me. But on reflection, it shouldn’t be surprising at all, and it is a takeaway for all Pistons fans right now.
This pain you are feeling, the heartache of watching your Pistons slink off the floor while the opponent celebrated, is much better than the despair we have felt as Pistons fans for the better part of two decades.
Losing a heartbreaking playoff victory is much better than determining which firing, hiring, draft pick, or improbable trade will finally put your favorite franchise on the right track.
The Pistons are on the right track. They showed it. They are one of the best young teams in the NBA. They proved it. It is no fluke that they took the three-seeded Knicks to the limit in five out of six games.
Yes, they were on the losing side of this series, but I’ve never been more confident that they will be right back there next season and significantly better.
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The Despair of Two Decades of Futility
That stands in stark contrast to October 2023, when I wrote one of the articles I most dreaded, which turned out to be one of my best pieces of writing. The headline was, “My belief in the Detroit Pistons rebuild is at an all-time low.”
It was the beginning of the Monty Williams Era, the latest high-profile coach brought in to save the Pistons, hired by Troy Weaver, the executive who was supposed to be one of the best new GMs in the league. It was 3.5 years into the Weaver, and the crux of the issue was:
I look at Detroit’s potential rotations, and all I see are the flaws. Lack of spacing. Lack of defense. Lack of complementary skills. They went through the painful process of rebuilding the right way. They didn’t take shortcuts. However, I am sitting here in 2023 wondering if the Pistons’ rebuild needs a rebuild.
Read the whole piece. There is a healthy dose of my patented Cade skepticism and Ausar Thompson enthusiasm that gave me the cathartic chuckle I was looking for, as noted in the article’s first paragraph.
It was pure despair last year and most of the years before. It has been the most common feeling I have had since I started covering this team 13 years ago at Detroit Bad Boys. That numbing feeling that while you were hoping for the best, none of it mattered, and it wouldn’t work out.
I never believed in Michael Curry, John Keuster, or Maurice Cheeks. I never trusted the team would spend its money wisely or ace the NBA Draft . When you come away thinking that there is no way your team can build a sustained winner and compete for a title, you’re not left with much.
We have come a long way in a year and a half.
Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images
Cade is Him
It is not just that Cade Cunningham became Cade CunningHIM. It’s not just that Ausar continues to show he is already one of the league’s best young defenders. It’s not that Isaiah Stewart blossomed as the reserve center we all knew he was at heart, or that Jalen Duren became an elite pick-and-roll partner and grew markedly as a defender. Or that Jaden Ivey was having a career season with an effective 3-point shot and great chemistry with Cunningham before his season-ending injury.
Their 44 wins this season merely match their total from 2015-16. The Pistons have made the playoffs twice since 2008, including 2018-19. So why am I beaming with enthusiasm now when, in 2019, I was writing, “Welcome to the Bleak Griffin Era ”?
Because this team is just getting started.
There are plenty of rough terrain to navigate. The Pistons can’t hitch their entire wagon to Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Dennis Schröder, each on the wrong side of 30, around its young core. They can’t simply rely on internal development to solve all their issues. They have to take risks at some point, including likely breaking up that young core in a difference-making trade.
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A reason to believe
But the plain fact is that this 44-win team was led by four players projected to be in their starting lineup who are 23 or younger. They have a budding superstar in Cunningham, whose skills are tremendous. His path to improvement is both obvious and achievable (limit turnovers, improve finishing, efficient 3-point shooting).
They finished the season with the lowest payroll in the NBA, and despite Cade Cunningham’s max contract kicking in next season, they should still have plenty of flexibility to maneuver via trades and free agency.
They are not a team whose ceiling felt like habitual first-round exits. In prior playoff seasons, it always felt like it was just nice to be there. Now, the Pistons look like a team that could be building toward title contention. A team that can do some damage.
So, yes, Thursday’s loss hurt. But you don’t get to experience that level of pain without making the playoffs. You don’t get to the heartbreak unless your team is good enough to make you believe that great things are possible.
I believe in this team. I don’t take that for granted. It doesn’t come easily for me. The Pistons haven’t made it easy to believe. And as much pain as I feel, I couldn’t be happier.
I can’t wait for next season.