3 reasons Detroit Pistons won’t make the 2019 NBA Playoffs

1. Eastern Conference progress

Some teams are going to regress, and some teams are going to progress. That’s just the way that sports work. When looking at the Eastern Conference standings from last season, it doesn’t appear that any team above the Pistons, other than the Cleveland Cavaliers, is significantly worse from last year. Not only does no one really look worse, but the majority of the teams above them got better.

From the 5-8 seeds, each of those teams got better either due to improved health, coaching, players or all of the above. The Pistons did make progress this offseason, but it’s not clear that they made enough progress to make the playoffs. Some teams made significant strides, but the Pistons only really did that at the head coaching spot. The players they added should contribute in the future, but they aren’t ready to contribute yet.

The top of the Eastern Conference is stacked with talent, and while the bottom of the conference is not very strong, that lower middle group is going to beat up on each other. The Pistons have a lot of young players that should help them compete for playoff spots and more in the future, but that roster might not be there yet. They will likely have to wait for the rest of the Eastern Conference to weaken up before they can make their way back into the playoffs.