The Chronicles of Mediocrity – A Detroit Pistons Fan Tale

Since the age of 9, I’ve been a diehard fan of the Detroit Pistons. Born and raised in Michigan, I’ve always gravitated towards my hometown team, regardless of how poorly they’re doing. Being a fan can be challenging, but it’s incredibly difficult if you’re talking about the Pistons. 

For most teams, you’ll go through 2 typical phases. First, “the high.” You experience “the high” when your team is on top. This typically applies to around 8-10 teams in the league, generally those with the most wins. When your team is winning, you feel like you’re winning as well. 

Next, “the hopeful.” Typically, the teams at the bottom of the pack have lost so much that they become delusional optimists, hoping for a high draft pick. Take the Knicks, for example. Each year, their fans rave about all their upcoming signings in the free agency and draft. While they seldom follow through, their fans maintain a sense of hope.

Now, we have a grey area. Unfortunately, this happens to be where my Pistons fall into. See, the Pistons are typically the 8th or 9th seed in the eastern conference, meaning they’ll either make the playoffs only to be swept in the first round, or they’ll miss the playoffs and get an awful draft pick anyways. In short, they’re confined to mediocrity, and it sucks. See, the Pistons are widely recognized as a “decent” team. With three championships and our “Bad Boy Pistons” roster’s legacy, they’re a pretty fair organization. Recently, however, it seems like management is clinPistons Winning NBA Championship in 2004 (David P. Gilkey | Detroit Free Press) ging to that title a bit too much.

Unfortunately, it feels like the Pistons don’t know what they want to do with themselves. With the signing of Blake Griffin back in 2018, Detroit made it clear that they wanted to be a contender. Behind the high-flying Griffin leadership, the Pistons looked like a pretty decent threat until they stepped onto the court. Detroit barely grabbed the 8th seed in the East at their peak, where they got obliterated by an outstanding Bucks team. 

This would be a call to go back to the drawing board for most organizations, but Detroit decided to hold onto Griffin. This was not a good idea. After many (and I mean MANY) injuries, his stock has gone down significantly, and now Detroit is left with an injury-prone Griffin who isn’t wanted by nearly as many teams. 

On top of that, the draft office has proven to be nearly worthless. The most crucial part of a rebuild is your ability to recognize and capitalize on unnoticed young talent. While they’ve certainly done this with the acquisition of budding star Christian Wood (a signing that I genuinely commend), their ability to draft players with high picks has been extremely subpar. 

In recent years, Detroit has drafted a few players, namely Stanley Johnson, Luke Kennard, and Sekou Doumbouya. Stanley ended up floundering, Luke became a decent role player, and Sekou saw little development/playing time. On the other hand, the Pistons passed upon names like Donovan Mitchell and Devin Booker. Either Detroit doesn’t know how to help a player succeed, or they’re abysmally behind with their draft analytics. 

This is not to say that I won’t be rooting for Detroit in the upcoming season. With a few decent signings like that of seasoned veteran Derrick Rose, management is starting to reverse some of their mistakes. The future of the Detroit Pistons will come down to their ability to recognize potential superstars in the upcoming draft, and I hope they’re able to do so. After all, I’m tired of supporting a losing team.