Detroit Pistons can end their frustrating 4-year playoff drought in 2023

Detroit Pistons</a> had an offseason that nobody could&#8217;ve seen coming.</p> <p>The Pistons first had to do their due diligence and get rid of top-scorer Jerami Grant. After weeks of searching, a deal was finally completed as Grant was shipped to the Portland Trail Blazers. Unfortunately, Grant didn&#8217;t fit the Piston&#8217;s timeline and the deal was necessary to give rising star Cade Cunningham the keys to this offense.</p> <p>Heading into draft night, the Pistons held the 5th overall pick and were projected to land Iowa forward Keegan Murray. As it turned out, Murray was selected the pick before Detroit, leaving the Pistons to take Jaden Ivey&nbsp;&mdash; a speedy and crafty finisher around the rim.</p> <h2>Draft night trades push the Detroit Pistons forward even more.</h2> <p>Before closing out the lottery, the Pistons were also able to acquire Jalen Duren, a defensive-minded center in a three-team deal headlined by draft picks. It may have taken shedding the contract of former Knicks guard Kemba Walker to get the deal done, but the Pistons have plenty of cap room to make that happen.</p> <p>Following the draft, Detroit made another haul, acquiring veterans <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1541960634937577473" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel</a> in a deal with the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/new-york-knicks/">New York Knicks</a>. The Pistons needed some more leadership, and getting quality locker room guys like Noel and Burks will help the chemistry of the team going forward.</p> <p>It&#8217;s easy to forget that just two years ago that the likes of Burks and Noel were a part of a strong Knicks nucleus that proved their doubters wrong in the 2020-21 season. The Detroit Pistons could find themselves in a similar situation heading into the season.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span>&nbsp;Cunningham &amp; Ivey make a winning combo </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_447824" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-447824" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2725,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1407453628.jpeg" alt="Detroit Piston" width="3200" height="2725" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1407453628.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1407453628-768x654.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Jaden Ivey and Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Cade &amp; Ivey are key to the Detroit Pistons’ playoff hopes.</h2> <p>Since 2019, the Pistons have been in rebuild mode. It may not seem exciting, considering it doesn’t always work out in the end with dead-end prospects. However, in just a few seasons of reconstructing the team, Detroit has an exuberant young core which could lead to some success going into this season.</p> <p>In order for the Pistons to have a shot at the playoffs, they need to see a big second-year jump from last year’s No. 1 overall pick, Cade Cunningham. After a great rookie campaign from the former Oklahoma State guard, Cunningham finished 3rd in <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/awards_2022.html#all_roy" ref="nofollow">Rookie of the Year voting</a>.</p> <p>Despite not seeing success in the win columns last season, the fans had plenty to be excited about from Cunningham’s vast display of scoring and playmaking.</p> <div class="embed "> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true"> <p lang="en" dir="ltr">Active players to average 17/5/5 as a rookie: </p> <p>— LeBron James<br>— Luka Doncic<br>— Cade Cunningham <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"https://t.co/86f3DsEosr">pic.twitter.com/86f3DsEosr

<p>— StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1558160998510600192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>August 12, 2022</a></p></blockquote> <p><script async src=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></div> <p>It’s definitely possible for Cunningham to make the jump after the Pistons went out and made some good moves to build around him, with Ivey being the centerpiece of this Pistons offseason.</p> <p>While it takes some time for rookies to make an overall adjustment to the pros, Ivey will likely not need as much time to make an impact. With his change of pace speed and strong inside scoring from the combo guard, Ivey can certainly complement Cunningham’s playmaking abilities by playing off the ball.</p> <p>When Cunningham is on the bench, Ivey can orchestrate the offense to ensure the Pistons don’t lose steam while their star player is resting. And with a solid second unit, Ivey maximizes the bench’s potential heading into this season and beyond.</p> <p> </p><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_443759" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-443759" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1239653988.jpeg" alt="Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1239653988.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1239653988-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Saddiq Bey and Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>The Detroit Pistons should enter the Play-In Range with depth and growth.</h2> <p>With a supporting cast including Saddiq Bey, Isaiah Stewart, Marvin Bagley, and Kelly Olynyk, the Pistons have some quality players that could help ignite this team in hopes of a playoff pursuit. A future Big Three consisting of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and Saddiq Bey — who scored 51 points in a game last season — could spell trouble for the opposition next season.</p> <p>With the three of them still very early into their careers, this can and will be a playoff team and even a contender within the next five years. Detroit is hoping that this season for them is similar to what the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"https://hoopshabit.com/western-conference/new-orleans-pelicans/">New Orleans Pelicans</a> did last season; winning in the Play-In Tournament and making some noise against the No. 1 seed in their conference.</p> <p>As far as qualifying for the top six seeds in the East, it seems unlikely with all the strong teams at the top of the conference. But that seven-to-10 range seems like an inevitable possibility, especially if the Pistons make a game-changing deal at the deadline and finish the season hot coming off of the All-Star break.</p> <div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Grading all 30 NBA teams on FA signings and trades" data-url="http://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/16/nba-free-agency-grading-teams-trades-signings/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background:#222423" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/19/detroit-pistons-end-playoff-drought/3/"http://hoopshabit.com/2022/08/16/nba-free-agency-grading-teams-trades-signings/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Grading all 30 NBA teams on FA signings and trades </a> </div> </div> <p>The 2022-23 season is a clean slate for every team but for the Detroit Pistons, it’s renewed hope at the promised land: the NBA Playoffs.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">