13. Detroit Pistons
2019-2020 Record: (20-46)
Preseason Record: (2-2)
The Detroit Pistons are exactly where every NBA team doesn’t want to be – in a state of limbo. They are stuck paying a 31-year-old Blake Griffin being paid $36,595,996 this year and $38,957,028 for the following season. While Griffin is a former All-Star and household name, the latter half of his career has been riddled with injuries and Detroit hasn’t been able to surround him with much of a supporting cast.
In fact, the talent around a deteriorating Blake Griffin is so bad, that FiveThirtyEight projects that Detroit will finish the 2020-21 season with a league-worst 18-54 record, with only a 1% chance of making the playoffs. In many ways, this team reminds me of the Knicks trying to build around an aging Carmelo Anthony.
With that being said, Detroit brings back Derrick Rose at point guard who has managed to somewhat revitalize his career. They also drafted French point guard Killian Haynes 7th overall along with three other draft picks. They brought in Jerami Grant in free agency who should be able to provide quality minutes to the line-up, and is still only 25 years of age.
Most importantly, it looks like Detroit is focusing on rebuilding while trying to get the most out of the veterans they currently have on their roster. Besides drafting Hayes 7th overall, they were able to select Isaiah Stewart at 16, and pulled a 3-team trade to the Clippers sending out Luke Kennard for the Clippers 19th overall, which they used to snag Saddiq Bey who fell to 19th after being by many to be a borderline lottery pick and Rodney McGruder.
While drafting a slew of young players should help them down the road, and players like Killian Hayes should make an immediate impact, I don’t see many of these moves improving Detroit this season, and for that reason I agree with FiveThirtyEight and believe that Detroit will be the worst team in the east this season.