Hoops Habit
Fansided

2019-20 NBA season: Record predictions for every team

By Christopher Kline

PLAYA VISTA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Los Angeles Clippers Forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and Los Angeles Clippers Forward Paul George (13) pose for a photo during media day at the Los Angeles Clippers Training Center on September 29, 2019 in Playa Vista, California. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
PLAYA VISTA, CA - SEPTEMBER 29: Los Angeles Clippers Forward Kawhi Leonard (2) and Los Angeles Clippers Forward Paul George (13) pose for a photo during media day at the Los Angeles Clippers Training Center on September 29, 2019 in Playa Vista, California. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
9 of 30
Next
(Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons are still a thing. Not much of a thing, but a thing.

Blake Griffin finished last season like a brake without a brake pad, worn to the bone and nothing left to give. He’s a borderline top-15 player and Detroit’s lone beacon of hope and prosperity. Someone get him some help.

In fairness, Andre Drummond is close to underrated at this point. There’s value in being the league’s best rebounder, a title Drummond has a strong claim to. He’s nothing special on offense, but Drummond has the mass, physicality and hustle to positively impact both ends of the floor.

The roster around Griffin and Drummond is moderately depressing. Griffin deserves better. Derrick Rose will add juice to the backcourt, but his decline over the second half of last season isn’t terribly promising. His 37 percent 3-point clip might have been a peak, not the start of a trend.

Reggie Jackson has long been the subject of ire and confusion in Detroit. Tony Snell is a starter, Markieff Morris isn’t the best basketball player of his sibling group, and Sekou Doumbouya isn’t ready for serious NBA minutes. The depth chart is, in the simplest terms, not great.

The Pistons need Griffin to assume bell cow duties again. His three-level scoring and playmaking will function as Detroit’s offensive fulcrum, the point on which everything else turns. Griffin is one of the few NBA stars who can truly elevate a mediocre roster to a competitive level.

Detroit feels primed for a step back, especially with how bogged down Griffin felt when last season ended. But there’s not much else in the East, so Griffin’s individual talent earns the benefit of the doubt. The Pistons make another appearance in the eighth seed.

Final prediction: 41-41, No. 8 seed Eastern Conference