Worst season ever earns an ‘F’; any bright spots?
The worst season in franchise history deserves an F grade.
The 2023-24 Detroit Pistons finished 14-68 overall, their fewest wins in the team’s history. A lot has to go wrong to go minus-3 in yearover-year win differential. It was a top-to-bottom failure of a season, which saw an NBA-record 31 players participate in the misery.
The team report card, however, is graded in a vacuum for each player relative to expectations, rather than as a reflection of how bad the team was collectively. General manager Troy Weaver and head coach Monty Williams’ grades will reflect the 14-win season, as the former is responsible for building a competitive team and the latter for organizing it.
For brevity’s sake, I only graded players who both appeared in at least 15 games (sorry, Quentin Grimes) and finished the season on a standard contract. I also excluded deadline arrivals such as Malachi Flynn and Evan Fournier, who are entering unrestricted free agency and mainly played late-season minutes as injuries piled up.
Cade Cunningham — B
Stats: 22.7 points, 7.5 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 44.9% field goal percentage, 35.5% from 3
After missing most of last season with a shin injury, Cunningham managed to quell many of the concerns surrounding him after an up-anddown start to his career. He had his most efficient season, buoyed by a 38.5% clip from 3 over his final 26 games. And he cleaned up his playmaking, setting a career-high in assists per game while keeping his turnovers under control. He’s yet to appear in at least 65 games (the minimum required to qualify for postseason awards) in a season, though, finishing at 62 this year after playing 64 as a rookie.
Jalen Duren — C+
Stats: 13.8 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.8 blocks, 61.9% FG
The second-year center further solidified himself as one of the NBA’s best rebounders, interior finishers and lob threats while continuing to show flashes as a passer (he nearly doubled his assist rate, but also turned the ball over a lot). He has significant strides to make as a defender, though, and Detroit will need the 20year-old to become a plus on that end to compete nightly.
Jaden Ivey — C
Stats: 15.4 points, 3.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds, 42.9% FG, 33.6% from 3
It was a see-saw season for Ivey, who began the season on the bench, earned his starting job back and improved his efficiency all-around before slumping after All-Star weekend. He finished the season with roughly the same shooting splits he posted as a rookie, and wasn’t able to sustain long stretches of strong defense. But his first 50 games — during which he shot 45.4% overall and 36.1% from 3 — teased his longer-term upside as an athletic scorer that can thrive next to Cunningham.
Ausar Thompson — C+
Stats: 8.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.1 steals, 0.9 blocks 48.3% FG, 18.6% from 3
The fifth overall pick, in many ways, exceeded expectations. The Overtime Elite product was a plus-defender from day one, reliably difficult assignments against the league’s top scorers. He was also a willing (if turnoverprone) passer and solid finisher at the rim, where he took most of his shots. But Thompson has a long way to go as a 3-point shooter, as he had the worst percentage among players with at least 100 attempts.
Isaiah Stewart — B
Stats: 10.9 points, 6.6 rebounds, 0.8 blocks, 48.7% FG, 38.3% from 3
In his second full season playing power forward, Stewart put together his best season as a shooter while remaining one of the team’s best and most reliable defenders. He’s arguably had the toughest job on the team, shifting from his natural position of center to accommodate Detroit’s other bigs. He has continued to expand his game, but remains a bit of a tweener offensively at 6-foot-8.
Marcus Sasser — C
Stats: 8.3 points, 3.3 assists, 42.8% FG, 37.5% from 3
The rookie guard shot well from 3, but had growing pains as a playmaker and defender. A late slump countered a hot start, as he shot 46.8% overall and 42.4% from 3 before All-Star weekend.
Simone Fontecchio — B
Stats: 15.4 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.9 steals, 47.9% FG, 42.6% from 3
He only appeared in 16 games before a toe injury prematurely ended his season, but the Italian sharpshooter impressed after arriving at the February trade deadline. He immediately established himself as a three-level scorer and willing defender, making him a priority as he enters restricted free agency.
James Wiseman — C
Stats: 7.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 61.3% FG Wiseman had moments in the back half of the season, after playing behind Marvin Bagley III at the start of the season. Few would question his work ethic, but he ultimately wasn’t the needle-mover the franchise believed he could become when they traded Saddiq Bey for him in 2023.
Stanley Umude — B
Stats: 5.3 points, 2.1 rebounds, 44% FG, 45.3% from 3
The 6-foot-6 forward shot lights-out from 3 and earned a standard contract in February, nearly two years after first joining the team on an Exhibit 10 contract after the 2022 draft.
Head coach Monty Williams — F
In his first season of a historic contract, Williams failed to maximize Detroit’s roster. The team got off to a promising 2-1 start before a season-shattering 28-game losing streak, during which Williams was unable to find the right combinations to find a spark. He continually went deep into one of the league’s worst bench units and carved out big minutes for players such as Killian Hayes, Isaiah Livers and Fournier, who all ranked bottom seven on the roster in effective field goal percentage.
General manager Troy Weaver — F
At the end of the day, the general manager is most responsible. The 2023-24 season was the culmination of a series of failed gambles by Weaver, who misplayed his hand by carrying Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks into the offseason rather than sell high at the 2023 trade deadline. That was followed by a conservative offseason that saw the team absorb Joe Harris and Alec Burks into cap space, rather than significantly upgrade the talent floor and address other critical needs.
The Pistons expected to take a step forward, and ended up with their worst record and Weaver likely moving down the chain with the arrival of a new president of basketball operation. The one thing salvaging the season is that February’s Fontecchio appears to be one of Weaver’s best moves since taking over in 2020, assuming the team retains him this offseason.