The Detroit Pistons had a largely successful season last year. The team was able to fight its way into the eight seed in a more-competitive-than-usual Eastern Conference. Despite being swept out of the playoffs, the Pistons put up a strong fight against the eventual champion Cavaliers.
Things are looking up for the Pistons who still have a very young team. But if they are to remain competitive, the Pistons will need to have some real growth. That’s what head coach Stan Van Gundy told Keith Langlois of Pistons.com:
“Philly is not going to win 10 games this year. They’re going to win more games – significantly more games,” Van Gundy said. “So that’s taking wins from everybody. If you look at what Brooklyn has done lately in their moves, they’re going to be able to win more games. A lot of those teams that were out of the playoffs – Milwaukee will be better, Orlando will be better, New York will be better. It’ll be harder to put up big victory numbers.
“I could be wrong. I don’t think 44 wins will be the eighth spot. I think we’ll get back closer to where the East has been because the bottom will come up.”
“I think it’s going to be very competitive. And I’ve said that to our guys, quite honestly, that we’ll have to be a little bit better just to make the playoffs again. I honestly believe that because of New York, Orlando, Milwaukee, Washington, Chicago – all not in the playoffs – those teams are going to fight. And we were the number eight team. We don’t have a lot of room. So just to get back to where we were will take work, let alone to move up. There’s nothing easy about this.”
Van Gundy is right. The East is becoming more competitive. That may not lead to more wins being necessary to get the eighth seed as there appears to be a slew of mediocre teams in the conference. However, it does mean that there will be more teams vying for the bottom seeds in the East.
The Pistons have a great shot at being better, however. The team will mostly bank on internal growth. Core members of the team like Reggie Jackson, Andre Drummond, and Kentavious Caldwell Pope are all young and have boundless potential.
Additionally, Detroit added some much-needed depth. Fresh off having the worst bench in the league, the Pistons now have Ish Smith, Ray McCallum and Jon Leuer to bolster the second unit. Time will tell if that will make the reserves a more respectable squad. But the makings of a more complete team are there.
So yes, Stan Van Gundy is correct that the Pistons will have to be much better to regain a postseason berth in the East. But fortunately for them, they have a solid chance of doing so.
