Detroit Pistons 2022 Season intriguing Predictions

Detroit Pistons Will Improve In 2022

Matt: Obviously, as we talked about the Detroit Pistons adding Jalen Duren and Nerlens Noel, adding a little bit of rim protection there, adding some size, which will be nice to see, to go along with the Beef Stew (Isaiah Stewart). But defensively, it’s gonna be discipline more than anything else that we’ll have to see out of the Detroit Pistons to improve, especially on the side of the ball when it comes to following, because.

It’s just so many young guys that’s just, it’s just gonna happen, and we just gotta have to live with it for now. But I hope to see some improvement in that discipline where we’re not the worst in the NBA regarding opponent free throw shooting. 

Ryan: Yeah. We’re probably just gonna be a bad defense in general. We don’t have a lot of good defenders, Cade Cunningham‘s good, and Killian Hayes was good, but he is gonna be on the bench now. And then you’re looking at Isaiah Stewart, who’s still not a great defender. He can protect the rim a little bit, but it’s still not great. But Saddiq Bey is not a good defender.

Marvin Bagley isn’t a good defender boy on not a good defender. So for the Detroit Pistons, it. It’s one step at a time, right? Like they’re not gonna, Rome wasn’t built in a day, essentially, and I think there’s some defensive potential, but even Jaden Ivey coming in, right? He’s a rookie, is not gonna be, he’s not gonna be, Herb Jones, like w was as a rookie.

It’s just not gonna happen. He’s gonna have some plays as he had in the preseason game. Where he had thought two really good blocks, and then he had the Alvarado steel from behind. But, most nights, it’s probably gonna be a pretty rough go on the defensive end for Jaden Ivey.

And, you just can’t build, you can’t build a winning defense like that. And then, as far as following, it’s something that they do have to get under. Maybe even just being a little bit older, the guys will get better calls than they got before. At least I know the other side of the ball in terms of drawing fouls.

I would expect the logic to go the same way, where they’re going to allow Kawhi Leonard or Draymond Green to get away with more contact, and they’ll allow Jaden Ivey to get away with it. Again, in the preseason game the other night, Cade’s starting to get these calls that he wasn’t getting last year, just like when he is driving to the hoop.

And it’s exciting to see because now, if Cade can do that, then he can average more than 20 points for the entire season. But it’s a team that’s not gonna be good on defense. And I think there’s gonna be a lot of nights where they’re not very good on offense. This is why I think, if they’re gonna have one of the six worst records in the NBA, they’re not gonna be the worst team in the NBA.

And I don’t think they’re gonna have a bottom-three record, but they are. They’re gonna be pretty bad compared to the rest of the league. I think it’ll still be pretty fun to watch. But again, I wouldn’t expect a lot of wins. And if you’re looking at the reasons why I think the defense has to be chief among them.

Matt: Yeah, I think we’ve given quite a few reasons why in this segment why you should temper your expectations for the Detroit Pistons this season. So the central division, we both know it’s been the Milwaukee Bucks division, to run for the last four plus years. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m expecting them to win the division again. I’m assuming you’re on the same page with me there. 

Ryan: Yeah, yeah, the Bucks are maybe the best team in the East and certainly the best. 

Matt: Okay. And so then after that, can the Chicago Bulls stay healthy enough to be second in the division? Or do the Cavs leapfrog them with Spida Mitchell joining a new team and leading the way offensively and he says defensively, he said he is gonna focus on being a better defender this year? We’ll see if that actually comes to fruition or not, but So who have you got second? 

Ryan: The Bulls and the Cavs already can’t stay healthy. Lonzo Ball might be out the entire season. But yeah, I think the calves are gonna be pretty good, pretty solid, obviously Darius Garland, Mobley, Donovan Mitchell, obviously big edition.

But even after getting Jared Allen back last year when they had Jared Allen, they were like really good defensively, and then they lost him. And then they were not only bad defensively, but they were also bad. Just as a team after Jared Allen went down, but I think I, I think they’ll be better than what the Bulls are.

Matt: Yeah. I think it’s just I think the Bulls are a better team to win healthy, but as you said, they can’t stay healthy. And if the Cavs can, I think they leap for the Bulls. I think it’ll be close. I think they’ll be within two and a half, three games of each other, whatever. I think the Cavs will get a little bit better than the Bulls this year.

And be second in this, in the central. And then fourth, I got quite a few games back from the Bulls and then Pacers about 6, 7, 8 games back of us for the last spot in the division. 

Ryan: I don’t think we’ll be eight games better than the Pacers. 

Matt: But I think if they’re trying to tank and we’re not, then we might.

Ryan: All right. But still, man, if we win 30 games, they have to win only 22. And that’s what I’m saying. They, for us, I know, but I think our own runners like 26, 27, and they only win 19. That’s one of the worst teams. 

Matt: So speaking of that, again, we’re talking about a young team, like we said, seven guys on this team that are the third year in the NBA or.

So there could be some flashes of greatness and brilliance, and there’s gonna be flashes of what are you doing? So for me, the floor that I have for the Detroit Pistons this year is 27 winds. I think 27 winds is our floor. And I got 34 winds as our ceiling. 

Ryan: I think the floor’s probably closer to 23 or 24 winds. The ceiling, if everything goes right, I don’t know, 38, close the 500, that’d be amazing. The east is still great, but I don’t know if Cade is like all NBA. And Ivey is the rookie of the year. Then maybe they can sniff 38, but I just don’t see a situation where they get to 40 or something. 

Matt: All right. Who did you get as the most improved Detroit Piston? 

Ryan: Most improved Detroit Piston. It’s probably a cop-out answer. But Cade Cunningham. He will be the one who has to improve. If the Detroit Pistons are serious about winning, and it doesn’t matter what any of the other guys do, Isaiah Livers or Saddiq or Killian Hayes or whoever.

But it’s gonna have to be a because it all falls on his shoulders, and I think he’s got the most talent. I do think he will be a borderline All-Star this year. So I’ll pick Cade, cutting him. 

Matt: So I didn’t go with Cade cuz he was already averaging about 20 plus points, especially for the second half of the season. And I expect to be around that 23, 24-point mark per game. So I did not go with Cade I have it between either Beef Stew. If that three-point shot really is starting to fall for him, his numbers should jump up a ton. 

And Saddiq Bey was already showing glimpses of it last year. If he has more open opportunities and knocks down those opportunities, I think he could actually be in the running for the most improved in the NBA period.

So I got up 200 between those. For me, sixth. Man, it depends on how we play and who’s hurt and who’s not, but it’s either Killian or Isaiah Livers, depending on how they run the offense. 

But I think we’ve seen glimpses of what Killian is starting to bring to the table. I do think this is a year that people are gonna be going. That’s why we took this guy, and I’m hoping we see that out, Killian. So I got him, or Isaiah Livers is our sixth man. 

Ryan: I got Alec Burks. I think he’s just gonna come off the bench and be a strong veteran presence for the Detroit Pistons. He’s probably gonna be the guy who, when somebody gets hurt, can kind of run point guard too. He did that a little bit when he was with the Nicks, I believe and I think he’s just gonna be a guy who they trust and who they spot-start when some of these guys end up getting hurt when some of these other guards get hurt. 

Matt: And I think we both have the same player for MVP of this team. You already said to him as you’re most improved. I think we both agree with this man. He’s gotta be the man running the show for us for many years to come. Cade Cunningham is the MVP for the Detroit Pistons. 

Ryan: Yeah, that’s without a doubt.

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