Last Week: (L) to ATL, (L) to PHI, (W) over ORL
The Detroit Pistons were on track to be last in the rankings for much of last week, but a convenient showdown between Detroit and Orlando on Saturday night saw the Pistons come out ahead, and therefore out of the cellar. They are still on the stairs leading down, though, as this rotation has looked rough to start the year.
Part of that is the absence of first overall pick Cade Cunningham, who just made his debut Saturday night. Cunningham started and played 19 minutes, scoring just two points as he shook off the rust but finishing with a positive net rating. He should settle down as a shooter and may give Detroit signs of life moving forward.
Scares Me: Killian Hayes looks like a bust. This would scare me a lot as a Detroit fan, that my team went into the Top 10 and came away with the worst player in the NBA. The second-year point guard is averaging 5.2 points and shooting only 26.3 percent from the field. He’s a turnstile on defense, he turns the ball over and he hasn’t been able to shoot yet. He could turn it around, and he’s getting nightly starts to try and play out of the pit, but it’s been absolutely brutal thus far.