Coach John Kuester has called the team out for its passion. The fans, once part of sellout after sellout, have decided that what extra personal money is available should not be spent on this team.
Even in a league where the 8th playoff seed is five games under .500, this team should pack it in now and look to rebuild through the draft and expiring contracts.
One could argue that the “packing it in” has already begun. Sixty-five points against the Miami Heat doesn’t necessarily signal championship basketball. On the positive side, these aren’t the 4-41 New Jersey Nets. This Pistons team will show up once in a while to produce a decent performance, and it happens to be the lower paid players like Jonas Jerebko leading the way. If this continues to be the case, players like Hamilton and Prince will be out of this town in a hurry.
Joe Dumars has two very distinct options that he can use to get this team going again in the near future. First, he will have likely a top six/seven draft pick at his disposal this summer. Players like Wes Johnson, Evan Turner and Patrick Patterson, would make a huge difference on a team with Rodney Stuckey and Jerebko. Second, he could give away an expiring contract to a team looking to make a splash on the free agent market.
Over the years, Dumars has made a major splash pillaging teams for talent when they least expect. A Ben Wallace here, a Will Bynum there, and all of a sudden the Pistons have talent that will make a major impact on the court and not to the salary cap numbers. It’s that major impact on the court that has been missing this season.
