Following the announcement that a new arena was going to be constructed by the Detroit Pistons, fan excitement heightened in the Motor City. From Auburn Hills, the new Little Caesar’s Arena is located in downtown Detroit, bringing the team’s games closer to more of the city’s residents.

However, due to increased expenses, the NBA was nearly forced to delay the Pistons’ move to their new home. Despite 62 percent of the total cost being privately funded, the organization and contractors argued that the public will shoulder the excess amounts for the arena to be ready for the team’s opening home game in October.

From a piece by Katrease Stafford of the Detroit Free Press:

“In a sworn affidavit filed late Friday, Palace Sports & Entertainment and Detroit Pistons CFO Greg Campbell said the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court June 1 by activist Robert Davis and City Clerk candidate D. Etta Wilcoxon, might hamper the team's plans to play their first preseason game on Oct. 4 in Detroit, nearly 40 years after former owner Bill Davidson took the team to Oakland County.”

“Campbell said receiving the public dollars was a “condition” of the team's agreement with the Detroit Downtown Development Authority, the public entity that owns the Little Caesars Arena which is also a new home to the Detroit Red Wings.”

“The estimated cost of the project has increased from $450 million to $862 million and the project is anticipated to be 62% privately funded and 38% publicly funded. A new DDA proposal that council is to vote on Tuesday would issue an additional $34.5 million in bonds to support the Pistons' relocation.”

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Reed Sheppard, Zaccharie Risacher and Rob Dillingham wearing Pistons jerseys

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Mikal Bridges in a Pistons jersey with Cade Cunningham

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Tobias Harris between the Pistons and 76ers logos

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The only way for the team to gain approval for their move to the new arena from the league office is for the financial issues to be resolved soon. All expenses have to be accounted for and paid by the partnership with Little Caesar’s, the Pistons’ ownership team, and other funders.

Whether the Pistons are able to play in downtown Detroit next season is anyone’s guess at this point, but given this road block, they might need to prepare themselves to have their home games at the historic Palace of Auburn Hills again for 2017-18.