Detroit Pistons: 5 predictions for the 2018-19 NBA season

2. The Pistons will have two All-Stars

Drummond is a two-time NBA All-Star who earned that honor in each of the two seasons he led the league in rebounding (2016, 2018). Griffin is a five-time All-Star who last made the cut in 2015, when he averaged 21.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game.

As explained earlier in this piece, there’s no reason to believe Drummond won’t again lead the league in rebounding, paving the way for another All-Star nod.

Griffin will be the subject of a lot of intrigue as he plays his first full season for a team other than the Clippers. So while the Pistons don’t have a lot of national TV games, Griffin will attract plenty of fan and media interest.

With the way Casey has talked about positioning Griffin as Detroit’s No. 1 scoring option and an offensive facilitator at “point-forward,” it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him set career-high marks in points and/or assists — or at least better numbers than he put up in his last All-Star season.

Drummond and Griffin have some stiff competition among frontcourt players in the East, however. The conference lost a perennial All-Star lock in LeBron James this offseason, but added another All-Star forward with Kawhi Leonard joining the Raptors. Then there’s Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Al Horford, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum and Kevin Love also competing for spots.

One thing that will help the Pistons land two All-Stars is for the team to win more often. Lottery squads and cellar-dwellers are fortunate to get one All-Star. The Pistons are well aware of that — they went six years from 2010-15 without a single All-Star, a stretch during which the team also missed the playoffs every year.

The Pistons will be better than they were last season, good enough to land two players in the All-Star Game.