Detroit Pistons
The 2020-21 Detroit Pistons season can be defined by the worst record in the Eastern Conference (that lucked into the #1 pick!), Jerami Grant’s breakthrough and a slew of rookies that have some promising potential.
What did we learn?
After the D-Rose trade, Blake’s buyout, and the Svi Mykhailiuk—Hami Diallo trade, there is one player remaining on the Pistons roster from the 2019-20 season. Yes, you read that correctly. One year later, just ONE Piston remains. That one player is Sekou Dembouya who averaged 15.5 mins per game and received numerous DNP-CD’s.
Jerami Grant is sure here now, though!
He bet on himself, and it paid off. Jerami Grant turned down the Nuggets (and the playoffs) to head to the harsh frozen winter of Detroit to be The Dude. He had his best season by far, taking his offensive game to a level that we didn’t know he had in him. Grant’s drop the shoulder down and drive game, plowing through defenders on the way to the hoop is legit, especially with his 85% free throw shooting. We would still encourage him to set up his teammates more, but we are nevertheless impressed by his progress.
Also impressive was rookie Saddiq Bey, specifically The Saddiq Bey Game against the Celtics in which Bey shot 7-for-7 from 3, scoring 30 points on his way to earning Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors. (That really happened.) Bey is clearly capable of lighting it up. He’s got quite the scoring ability, finishing his rookie season with 13 games of five or more made 3’s, averaging 38% for the season on 6.6 attempts per game. Not bad for a rookie. Not bad at all.
Another rookie, Isaiah Stewart a.k.a. Beef Stew did not put up the biggest numbers but did manage eight double-doubles and has quite the motor for a big man. He fouls a lot, yet he can rebound with the best of them. Stewart’s jump shot appears to be ahead of schedule which is surprising for a rookie with the nickname Beef Stew.
Pop quiz, who had a higher Player Efficiency Rating this season, Saben Lee or Killian Hayes?
The correct answer is Saben Lee, and you are probably wondering… WHO HE!? A rookie from Vanderbilt taken in the second round, Saben Lee played really well in late-February when given minutes all of a sudden. He’s pretty quick and he plays hard. You could always feel it when he checked into games, an agitator on defense and an attacker on offense.
The #7 overall pick Killian Hayes missed 46 games due to a hip injury and finished with a team-worst PER of 5.3. The good news is that the The Frenchie is incredibly young (19) and when he was actually out on the court, he did show that he can definitely pass and play defense. The scoring and shooting need a lot of work. Not exactly the areas that you want to be lacking in today’s game, but you can always use a good defender who can also sling dimes.
The Pistons traded for Hami Diallo, who has improved his game a lot, proving to be more than just a power dunker, a poor man’s Andrew Wiggins (that’s actually a good thing these days). There was a Wayne Ellington Resurgence that took place here, a career-high 44 percent from 3. There was even a Jackson Bros sighting: Former top-5 pick Josh Jackson who is still surviving (albeit in the wilderness of Detroit) and big hair Frank Jackson who… shot over 40 percent from 3!? Dennis Smith Jr. even had some moments, picked up in the D-Rose trade.
The Plumlee signing, even in retrospect, is still perplexing. But Detroit actually was not as weird as we thought (or hoped) they might be. But they were not any good, either.
Detroit won 20 games total. Half of those wins were against playoff teams, so that’s something.
Dwane Casey and Troy Weaver inherited a mess. The only real way to go is up, changing the tide in Mo-Town and Little Caesar’s Arena.
It can’t get much worse than only having one player on your team one year later.
And it sure helps to have the #1 overall pick.
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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?
Under 24.5 wins, prepare for another brutal winter in the Motor City.
Pistons 2020-21 Record: (20-52)
YES, our preseason Over/Under prediction hit!
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What’s Next?
The #1 pick in the draft! In our last edition of the Power Rankings that dropped in early May, we stated that we would give Killian Hayes the benefit of the doubt, but that the Pistons should not be afraid to draft Cade Cunningham if given the opportunity. And now here we are. The Pistons struck lottery gold and have the golden opportunity to draft Cade #1 overall.
Free agency: Six Pistons players from this season are free agents: Hami Diallo, Wayne Ellington, Frank Jackson, Cory Joseph, Saben Lee and Dennis Smith Jr. Considering that Troy Weaver had a part in drafting Diallo when he was in OKC and has now gone to the trouble of trading for him, chances seem pretty good that he will re-sign him.
Food for thought: Four years ago, the Pistons won 37 games with Tobias Harris, Reggie Jackson, Andre Drummond, Marcus Morris, KCP and Reggie Bullock.
The Pistons also drafted Khris Middleton and Bruce Brown, both in the second round. Come to Detroit and thou shalt prosper elsewhere (and in the playoffs).
We love the fact that Jerami Grant is going to be on the U.S. Olympic team this summer!
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Favorite Pistons Highlight from the 2020-21 Season:
Not only did the rookie shoot a perfect 7-for-7 from 3, but there is one play here where he completely bulldozes Tatum.
