The Detroit Pistons are a team that a lot of people around the NBA are going to be keeping an eye on in the coming week. While they aren’t going to factor into the playoff race themselves, as they are currently second to last in the Eastern Conference with a record of 12-33, they can have an impact on the races.
Detroit has a few veterans that teams have been showing interest in, headlined by Bojan Bogdanovic. Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks and Saddiq Bey are three more players who have been mentioned as being made available by the team.
Coming into the season, there was some optimism that the Pistons could make a push for a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament. It was part of the reason that they acquired Bogdanovic in the first place, but Cade Cunningham’s injury took the wind out of their sails.
While Detroit may be at a disadvantage most nights they take the court talent-wise, that doesn’t make up for their lack of energy and effort on some nights. There is only so much that a coach can do to make up for the talent discrepancy, but they certainly have a lot of control over how hard the team will play.
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Coaching a losing team is never easy and Dwane Casey is experiencing that the hard way. Detroit has a .334 winning percentage during his tenure, likely putting him on the hot seat. There is a lot that this team has to fix beyond the head coach, but if anyone is going to be the scapegoat, it will likely be Casey.
If that is the route that the Pistons take, keep an eye out for Chauncey Billups emerging as a potential candidate. Billups is currently the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, but an NBA scout that spoke to NBA Analysis Network believes he is a name to keep an eye on in their next head coaching search.
“Portland is a mess right now. If things don’t turn around, I could see Chauncey Billups looking elsewhere for a coaching opportunity,” the scout told NBA Analysis Network. “I do know that the Pistons are interested in him as a future option. I’d watch Billups as someone that could be the next Pistons coach after Dwane Casey.”
After a strong start to the season, Portland has fallen on tough times. They are currently on the outside looking in of the NBA Play-In Tournament in the Western Conference with a record of 19-21, tied with the Utah Jazz and Minnesota Timberwolves.
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Billups could be on the hot seat in Portland after the team went 27-55 last season, playing a large chunk of the campaign without Damian Lillard. Expected to make a sizable leap up the standings this season, ownership cannot be happy about the team being outside of the playoff picture at the midway point of the season.
