There’s a certain justice to the NBA season.
Play well enough and you get rewarded with rounds of playoffs, national attention, and a shot at the Larry O’Brien trophy.
But having a rotten campaign brings about some benefit as well. That means you get a high pick in the next draft, which brings with it the very real possibility of adding a franchise-changing player. Of course that’s assuming you stay away from players whose first names begin with “D” and end in “arko.”
The 2013-14 Pistons are in a unique and unenviable position.
They are nowhere near good enough to make an impact in the playoffs. In fact, the likelihood that they will even qualify for the tournament is rapidly declining on a nightly basis. The Pistons’ record sits at 23-35, and while that is somehow good enough for 9th place in the Eastern Conference, it still puts them a healthy 3.5 games out of the final slot.
In most years, this type of in-between year wouldn’t be very costly. You might think, “At least we’ll still got a top-15 pick, and there’s some semblance of a playoff race to follow.” Not the worst deal in the world.
Only 2014 doesn’t allow for that luxury. The Pistons, in a forgotten deal from a couple years back, unloaded Ben Gordon to Charlotte for a very washed-up Corey Maggette and a side portion of rice pilaf. The deal became an asterisk, though. In order for the Bobcats to take on an enigma like Gordon, they would need something very valuable in return. Like a first-round draft pick.
Joe Dumars should have hung up the phone. Or made a counter offer. Or just decided to amnesty Gordon, meaning he is waived from the club but still owed the rest of his money. Anything not to forfeit a top pick. After all, this is a team that’s been at or near the bottom of the NBA for a while now. These first-rounders are like gold. The only players on this team with any real value league-wide, Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe, are both recent Piston top-10 picks.
But the Pistons had a way out of this mess. Or at least a way of delaying the inevitable for one more year.
Stay Away From The Middle
See, the Pistons only have to relinquish the precious pick if it is outside of the first eight selections. Meaning, all the Pistons needed to do was lose, lose, and keep losing. They would have been able to safely hold on to their pick and keep Michael Jordan and the Bobcats on hold for another year.
But they haven’t been able to do that. Sure, they’ve had no problem losing games. It’s just not happening quite enough. They have fallen into that lose-lose territory of the 2014 NBA standings. Not good enough to be a playoff team. Not bad enough to rank among the league’s worst.
Currently, the Pistons have the 10th worst record in the league. If form holds, that would position them to draft 10th. And the pick would belong to MJ. They always said Dumars handled Jordan as well as anyone during their many playoff battles. It appears the tide has turned.
To be fair, both are equally inept general managers, but on this one, Jordan took Joe D hard to the rack and dunked in his face. Dumars can only go huddle in the corner, embarrassed, unable to do anything but sit helplessly and watch this episode of Hoops Disaster Theater play out.
An Absence Of Forward Thinking
It begs the question, “What in the Sam Hill were the Pistons looking to accomplish during this most recent off-season?”
If this team was hoping to be in the exact position it finds itself in now, meaning not very good and not very bad, the absolute perfect additions would have been Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings. These players are gifted enough to play well every three or four nights, but just lazy and content enough to not want much more.
There were never any illusions that this pair of southpaws could carry the Pistons to playoff glory. Yet there was also little chance that bringing them aboard would allow the team to do poorly enough to slide in the standings and safely hold on to their number one pick.
The Philadelphia 76ers know how to rebuild. Or at least set themselves up for such a thing. They unloaded practically every available asset. They shed as many long-term contracts as they could. They drafted a young point guard.
Make no mistake, the team is brutal. Practically unwatchable. They began the season 3-0, then proceeded to lose 43 of the next 55. They didn’t win a single game in the month of February.
But I’d rather have their future outlook than that of the Pistons. The Sixers know this is not their year, and they know next year won’t be, either. They are putting together a legitimate and understood plan to be a real factor in three or four years.
The Pistons, however, choose to forever exist in this No Man’s Land of professional basketball. No season better symbolizes this quest for mediocrity quite like this one; there was a very real benefit to be had by losing enough games, and instead the franchise did all it could to prevent that from happening.
Becoming The “Root Against Guy”
They’ve started picking up the pace now, losing six of their last seven. Interim coach John Loyer has done little to change the team’s overall attitude and play. Will Bynum often seems to be the only Piston remotely concerned with the final score. But it all might be too little, too late.
The Pistons roster is in a serious state of crisis. The last thing they can afford to do is surrender a first round choice in what is believed to be one of the deepest draft pools in years.
It isn’t the ideal position for a sports fan to be in, but they have left us no other choice. It is time to root for the Pistons to lose. Absolutely nothing can be gained by winning. Losses need to come quickly and in bunches.
Only then will there even be a slight hint of sunshine at the end of this long and unforgiving Detroit basketball tunnel.
