By Michael Tolliver Jr

The constant rants from fans outside of Detroit, “Detroit is a poverty franchise!” Their words cling to me the same way the 2004 Champion Detroit Pistons attached themselves to Eastern Conference Finals appearances from the 2002-03 season throughout the 2007-08 season. Remembering how the city erupted with horns honking everywhere because the Pistons had beaten the mighty Los Angeles Lakers in a gentleman’s sweep 4-1. Disappointment from watching Rasheed Wallace leave Robert Horry open for a three and dash away the hopes of another repeat. Ready to go out and have fun with my friends. It suddenly turned into hanging heads and a slightly sadder summer than the year before.

History

I wanted to feel like my father felt when watching the previous Pistons glory days from the 80s. People always believed that only winning one title was a fluke. It couldn’t be any further from the truth. We were a solid unit. A group of hungry players mixed with a hungry city. Players like Lindsey Hunter, Elden Campbell, Corliss Williamson, Darvin Ham, Chucky Atkins, Mehmet Okur. Yes, Mehmet Okur. He was the reason we seemed like we always lost to the Utah Jazz when we played them all because we didn’t retain him.

Eventually we landed Antonio McDyess but lost Ben Wallace to the Chicago Bulls. Money surely talks. Then we began to look to the future. Was it Joe Dumars that thought Rodney Stuckey was the next Chauncey Billups? We’ll never know. Let’s not talk about picking Darko Milicic over Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, or Chris Bosh. We were chasing the next Dirk Nowitzki. That was before he won a title. We went from being who we were to becoming what the league was enamored with. Big shooters. Decent veterans. Youth showing flashes. Young vets like Tayshaun Prince are handed the leadership role. Coaching carousel. I rant.

We eventually landed Allen Iverson for Chauncey Billups. Hometown heroes that led Country Day in Chris Webber felt like home. Conference Finals again. Let’s not dig much deeper. After Tayshaun was dismantled by the Cavs with LeBron, we spiraled even lower. We experimented with Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, Josh Smith, and a few players who suffered injuries during their ascent. Jonas Jerebko anyone?

Multiple drafts that led us into the Stan Van Gundy phase didn’t help us at all. Coupled with a methodical Greg Monroe, Andre Drummond was the lone player who looked like he could compete with the Dwight Howards and Andrew Bynums of the world. We may have put too much on him too soon. Once we assembled a decent roster around him, we were able to compete with the Cleveland Cavaliers in three of the four games of a sweep. Many of those players showed great promise. A few would go on to better situations that we’ve seen today.

What’s Happening Today

So let’s stop the sad history story. Those outside don’t know the pain of success. The pain of coming up a hair short. The dedication in competing every year. Then, the reality of having to reset. Sounds like a life story but it’s just an NBA story. Our own. Let’s move to today.

We have Cade Cunningham. The absolute number one pick in any redraft of 2021. We have Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren. The dynamic duo that shined for us during the 2022-23 season. Especially once we decided to let them have the reigns. We can debate if they both would have been picked top five, top six in a re-draft. Knicks fans and Hornets fans have been upset with us about it. Yes, we do have Killian Hayes, we do have Isaiah Livers. Anyone who wants us to move Killian because he isn’t scoring doesn’t value defense. Anyone who doesn’t want to keep Livers in a prominent role, again, doesn’t value defense. They don’t value growth. They don’t value the individual stories within the NBA.

Cade averaged 17/5/5 in his first season. It’s only up from there. We have Jalen Ivey who looks like the next coming of Dwyane Wade. I know everybody wants to compare him to others. I think it’s the hair. He’s Wade in waiting. Trust me. We have Jalen Duren who looks like a blend between Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett to me. In college, he was shooting mid-range jumpers and also finishing and contesting at the rim. I wonder what it would’ve looked like if Wiseman actually stayed another few years in Memphis. We might’ve seen a twin tower combo in the NCAA ranks. Maybe in another universe.

Immediate Future

We have the number five pick in the 2023 draft. We have a few contracts that are movable and attractive. We have cap flexibility. More importantly, we now have Monty Williams as the coach of the Detroit Pistons. With Troy Weaver still within the organization, who’s to say that we don’t have the ability to sway a free agent or two to join to Detroit Pistons? Might be via trade. Regardless, we’re in a space that is fully unpredictable. To me, that’s grounds for a leap.

I’m optimistic about the outlook of the Pistons with Monty Williams at the helm. I watched what happened to the Phoenix Suns during his tenure. I watched what happened during his time in Charlotte/New Orleans. He’s a prominent coach for point guards and seems to be great when it comes to defining a big that he can develop a two man game with that frees up everyone else. We have more than enough talent for him to really make noise with this young Pistons team. I personally would like to draft Taylor Hendricks and pair him with Jalen Duren. We need more interior defense and picking Hendricks would provide Duren with another threat at the rim whenever he gets pulled away from the rim by teams. I trust Weaver and Monty to make the move best suited to help us propel to a play-in or playoff slot. We’re not far from where we need to be with the foundation and leadership that we have. Watch the haters eat crow.

The 2023 NBA Draft is tomorrow, Thursday June 22, 2023. Airs on ESPN at 8pm/EST.