The Detroit Pistons are on the verge of making NBA history. However, they are on the wrong side of history with what could wind up being the longest losing streak this league has ever seen.
The Utah Jazz came into Little Caesars Arena on Thursday night extremely short-handed. Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, Talen Horton-Tucker, and Keyonte George all found themselves out for this matchup, plus the Jazz were without a few other secondary talents. The fact of the matter is that the Pistons had their whole pack of young and athletic talents, leading many to believe that they would finally put an end to their 24-game losing streak that has been going on since before Halloween.
Perhaps Thursday night's loss at home to the Jazz was the worst loss the Pistons have ever suffered as a franchise. Detroit has a lot of young talent and potential on their roster, yet they were not able to get past a team that threw together a rotation of nine bench players on the second night of a back-to-back. Although the message was to still go out and compete in this game, it truly appeared as if the Jazz were giving the Pistons a chance to end their losing woes.
That did not happen.
Now, the Pistons' losing streak stands at 25 games, making them just the third team in league history to lose 25 consecutive games in the same season. The 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers were the most recent team to go through these types of struggles, reaching 26 straight losses. This Sixers team is tied with the 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers for the most consecutive losses in a single season. The 2014-15 and 2015-16 Sixers technically own the NBA record at 28 straight games, but they had lost 10 straight games to end the first season, followed by the first 18 games to begin the next.
Looking at what occurred on Thursday night in Detroit, it's quite ironic that Kelly Olynyk, who spent the 2021-22 season with the Pistons before the team decided they didn't want to keep him around, was the one to hand his former team this loss. Olynyk went for a career-high 27 points in Utah's victory, just plunging the knife deeper into the core veins of the Pistons franchise.
This is no longer a matter of if the Pistons are going to set a new NBA record for the most consecutive losses. The conversation has now shifted to how far will Detroit extend this record, if they will even win another game this season, and what the immediate future of the franchise looks like.
“Sell the team, sell the team, sell the team.” This is all that could be heard from the Detroit faithful near the conclusion of their dreadful loss against Utah, raising questions about the direction owner Tim Gores and general manager Troy Weaver go from here.
Examining Pistons' losing streak
The last time the Pistons won a basketball game was on October 22 against the Chicago Bulls. This was their third game of the season and quite honestly, it's shocking that they won this game because Detroit turned the ball over 15 times and Zach LaVine scored 51 points for the Bulls. Hey, a win is a win and the Pistons will gladly take it.
Since this game, the Pistons have lost 25 straight. Thursday night's game against the Jazz may have been their best chance to end this streak before setting a new NBA record. Now, Detroit faces a stretch where they will see the Brooklyn Nets twice, followed by the Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, and Houston Rockets. Losing all five of these games would put the Pistons at 30 consecutive losses, a feat that seems more reasonable to accomplish than picking up a win in any of these five contests. Regarding the team's mindset, Cade Cunningham made it clear that he doesn't believe his team is what their record says.
“We should've won this game, but we didn't… We're not 2-26 bad, you know what I mean? Like, no way are we that bad,” Cade Cunningham said in his postgame remarks followed by a long pause, via House of Highlights. “So yes, I think we can turn it around. I think we can play a lot better brand of basketball than we're playing right now.”
Cunningham does make a good point here. The Pistons as a collective are definitely not “2-26 bad,” as they have plenty of talented players on this roster. However, as a team, the Pistons are really bad and it does not appear as if things are going to be getting much better.
When looking at Detroit's schedule and who they will face over the coming weeks, this team may not have another chance to actually control a game and possibly pick up a win until they face the San Antonio Spurs on January 10, as well as the Washington Wizards on January 15. The Spurs are 4-23, the worst record in the Western Conference, and the Wizards are 5-22 on the year.
It's hard to imagine the Pistons losing the remainder of their games this season and finishing with a 2-80 record, but is this truly that hard to believe? Despite having players who are capable of winning on their roster, the Pistons have not been able to consistently score over the course of their last 25 games, they can't defend anyone to save their lives, and the body language they take the court with every single night suggests that half the team doesn't even want to be there anymore.
This losing streak has done more than turn the fans on the organization, it has resulted in total dysfunction in the Pistons' locker room.
Monty Williams on the hot seat?
Monty Williams was fired by the Phoenix Suns in May after leading them to the NBA Finals in 2021. While the 52-year-old considered taking time off from coaching, the Pistons wanted him to be one of the faces of their current rebuild. As a result, Detroit opened up their checkbooks and gave Williams a near $80 million contract that pays him roughly $13 million annually through the next six years.
Now one of the highest-paid coaches in the league and in his first season as the head coach of the team, there are some pondering the question of whether or not Detroit would consider moving on from Williams amid this long losing streak.
The very quick and short answer is that the Pistons signed their new head coach this past offseason with the intent of him building the organization up. While the 25-game and counting losing streak to begin his tenure does not look good whatsoever, moving on from Williams is not the answer here.
Highly regarded around the league and known for his ability to not only connect with but develop young talents, Williams is continuing to search for ways to build confidence within the walls of the franchise. The only thing Monty can do at this point is to continue challenging his young group, something he did in his postgame remarks.
“I'm going to be very careful with my words because this one hurts more than many of them just because of the situation,” Williams told reporters. “A team that played last night gets 50 points off of rebounds and turnovers. This one is unbelievably hard to understand how we can get outworked in those categories. That is absolutely on me. For whatever reason, it's been the same story all year long.”
There are always growing pains for any new coach, especially those who inherit a young team that has not found a lot of success through the years. This is the case with Williams and the Pistons, which is why it is not necessarily fair to say he is on the hot seat right now. Detroit expects to grow and win over the course of the 2023-24 season, but expectations and reality are two separate forces that do not always move in the same direction.
Whether or not Williams has lost the locker room and the confidence of the team is a whole separate series of questions that remains unanswered. Based on what the head coach has said, he still believes in the Pistons' ability to turn things around.
“I don't sense the lack of confidence, there's just a lack of execution. A lack of knowing what we should do. We had shots tonight, a couple of open threes. We didn't put them down. I wouldn't say that's a lack of confidence, we just missed those shots.”
Futures of Cade Cunningham, Bojan Bogdanovic
Once again, the Pistons are expected to be a team fielding calls around the trade deadline for veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic, who has recently worked his way back into the lineup from a calf injury. Bogdanovic has always been known to be a viable three-point shooting option out on the wing and his ability to be a reliable secondary scorer is what makes the veteran a valuable target for contending teams.
Making $20 million this season and then having a partially guaranteed contract for the 2024-25 season, the Pistons should give thought to moving Bogdanovic, especially if they can find a trade that nets them at least one first-round pick.
Cunningham is another interesting name to bring up regarding this season's trade deadline. While they are unlikely to give thought to trading arguably their best talent, the 22-year-old does have one more year left on his contract. A team like the San Antonio Spurs, who are in desperate need of a point guard next to Victor Wembanyama, may be willing to give up valuable assets for Cunningham that Detroit could immediately utilize.
There really isn't much to discuss with Cunningham and his future in Detroit, as it seems very unlikely that the team will move on from him. With this said, we should expect to see some changes to the Pistons roster ahead of February's trade deadline.
This 25-game losing streak only adds fuel to the fire for change, making the trade deadline an evaluation point for the Pistons. In addition to fielding calls for veteran players on their roster, the Pistons are going to hear out what teams are willing to offer for other players such as Isaiah Stewart, Jaden Ivey, and Marvin Bagley III. This doesn't mean the team will move on from any of these three players, but lack of comradery and lost confidence from anyone could be grounds for a trade to occur.
Nobody likes to lose and for the Pistons, their recent losing streak opens the door for many moves to possibly be made before the trade deadline.
Follow Us
Subscribe