Can the Pistons have a Winning Record next season?

See, that is stealth tanking. Some people get it!!!

Henry Abbott wrote a bit about stealth tanking yesterday. He even included Detroit as a stealh tanking team.

truehoop.com

"Can" they? Yes, obviously.

"Will" they? Different question.

For me, it hinges on free agents and draft picks. Frank has done a masterful job and will undoubtedly be back next year. Wallace and Wilkins are the only guys that the Pistons have whose contracts expire this year, so most of the rest of the team will be back, too. We know that they already have their center and SG of the future in Monroe and Stuckey. Knight will get an offseason with the team to work and grow. Prince isn't going anywhere. If they amnesty Gordon, they'll have a cap number of $49 million, give or take, which should leave some room ($6-9 million depending on next year's cap and cost of picks) for them to sign an upper-tier free agent. If Dumars can work some magic and trade Villaueva (and/or Gordon before amnestying him), then that makes their future next year even better.

Team:
PG Knight/Bynum
SG Stuckey/Daye
SF Prince/Jerebko
PF ... /Maxiell
C Monroe

Assuming they get their starting PF next year this offseason, we should only see improvement from them. Since they started 4-20, they're 12-7 and 5-1 over the past 6 games. True, they've gotten a lot of their wins against bad teams, but they've also beaten the Lakers and Hawks in this recent run, so we can be pretty sure they're somewhere in the middle.

I'd say the probability of them winning half their games next year is somewhere around 50%. Give or take.

LOL. Woody probably misread the question.

I agree that this is a winning strategy. Detroit needs to find a way to improve the team and step up the tanking!

I almost voted "NO" but I re-read the question.
They DO have a CHANCE......but I predicted a losing record.

Remember.......Woody just lost his Champion Team over in the NCAA Tourney bracket,
which means........he's losing quickly...and probably lost his focus. Happens to me all the time.

This team looks a lot like Indy and Philly, very capable, but Milw and Clev are on the up too.

I suppose that the Pistons "can" have a winning record next year.
Almost anything "can" happen.
...heck, a highly paid professional athlete "can" suffer an ankle injury while sleeping.

I voted No because I don't think they will. The way the question is phrased, of course they could, but I don't see the talent/roster make-up at all. Maybe something changes with the off-season, but if recent history holds true it just means additional mediocrity will be brought in.

Not to mention the only top team in the East that looks on the downslide is the Celtics.

If I was aked to vote wheter the Pistons WILL have a winning record next year, I would have voted NO.
Too many bad contracts that prevent them from filling too many holes.

Jayborne must be a politician. He didn't answer the question that was asked. He created a new question that he felt more comfortable answering.

All I can say is that Father Time is going to catch up with all of you. You'll lose your hair, your teeth, your knees will hurt, and all this foolishness will just be blowin' in the wind.

Now don't go and quit on us anytime soon.......
I've been losing hair longer than Rascoe has been alive.....
Teeth work fine........Knees are ok, unless I'm in one of those Catholic churches.
I do hope to be foolish til a ripe old age.
The wind does blow here in Montana...only because Idaho sucks.........

When I was in Montana, the wind was blowing the other way!

I was going to say something like "Woody, did it actually take you 6 days to make up that comeback line?", but then I realized that wouldn't be nice so I'm not going to say it.

I think it's really cool that you didn't say that.

Thanks. If I would have said, "Woody, did it actually take you 6 days to make up that comeback line?", then I probably would have felt bad and later regret it.

I'm sure Woody appreciates that...and in 6 days he'll probably tell you so himself.