Season Highlight:  Winning 55 games is a great accomplishment for this team.  I remember not too long ago they were a bottom feeder in the league.  They have come a long way and new GM Mephisto will have his work cutout for him to take the team farther.  Being a 5^th seed in the completely loaded Eastern Conference is nothing to blink at.  This Conference is a heavy hitter, and anyone that can win 55 games in the East is a great team.

Season Lowlight:  Losing to Philly in 5 games in the first round isn’t what this team was hoping for.  They thought they had what it took to make the finals, but couldn’t even make it out of the first round.  Part of this might be the leadership they are relying on in Kyrie.  He’s known as a team destroyer, and who knows what’s going on in that locker room.  They need to win a playoff series this year to make the Simmons-Kyrie pairing worth it.

Best Trade: Detroit gets Marcus Morris for Nene Hilario, Noah Vonleh, and (1) 2^nd round pick

Marcus Morris isn’t an all-star, but he was a great contributor to a playoff team.  He averaged 8 ppg and shot pretty well from the field during the regular season.  He played a small ball PF for the team, and helped create space for Ayton in the middle.  This was a crafty move to help perfect a roster without giving up too much in the way of contributors.

Worst Trade: Detroit gets Andre Iguodala, Thabo Sefolosha, and Jerian Grant for Alec Burks, Kelly Oubre, Josh Jackson, Bam Adebayo, and DJ Wilson

Looking back on this trade, I’m not sure if this was the whole trade, but this was a lot to give up for Iggy.  Oubre looks promising, Bam Adebayo looks like a starting center, and DJ Wilson might be a promising role player.  They were looking to compete and gave up a lot of young players, but this just seems like way too much to me.

Other Notable Trades: Detroit gets Nikola Mirotic, and KCP for Jabari Parker

This trade looks weird in retrospect, Mirotic is out of the league, and Parker doesn’t look like he’ll be in it much longer.  Not really a good or bad trade at this point in the future.

Detroit adds Will Barton, Anthony Toliver, and Brook Lopez for Iguodala, Nikola Mirotic and (1) 2^nd round pick

This seems like a good deal considering Iggy is on his way out, and Mirotic ended up in Spain.  Lopez was a great player last season and getting Barton, a much younger swing man is an addition to this.  Really like this for Detroit.

 Free Agency:

There is a lot of uncertainty in Detroit’s future.  They have Marcus Morris on a C loyalty, Kyrie Irving on an F loyalty, TJ McConnell on an F loyalty, and Harrison Barnes on an A loyalty.  It’s highly unlikely that the team can keep both Kyrie and Marcus Morris, so I would expect them to go all in on Kyrie and Morris will be hitting the open market.  I’m sure Harrison Barnes will resign, and McConnel will be gone also.  This will leave some open holes in the roster, look for the team to fill this with some low cost minimum free agents. 

Star:

Kyrie Irving – The team has two point guards in Ben Simmons and Kyrie, but Kyrie is clearly the better player right now.  He’s a sharpshooter, playmaker, and a problem for the other teams.  He needs to be careful though, because he’s trying to leave this offseason, and the team has Ben Simmons who can step right in and take over.  Kyrie is still a premier point guard in this league, and Detroit needs to do everything they can to keep him on the team.

Goat: 

Nicolas Batum – He’s being paid handsomely for his services, and isn’t providing a lot of value.  He didn’t start but half the games this year, averaging a little over 8 ppg.  He forced Detroit into trading for Marcus Morris, and he’s still on the books for likely another year since he has a player option.  He’s dragging this team down financially and with his production.

Draft Grades (from Insider): #29) Keldon Johnson

He went the same place he did in the NBA, he was a one and done, but he was drafted by the Spurs in the NBA.  Therefore, you know he’s gonna work out.  He may spend some time in the G-League though, so if that’s the case he may not get to play for the Pistons as much as they may want.

Grade: B+

The Future-

The big focus right now is getting Kyrie to resign.  After this they just need to work on the Simmons and Ayton development.  I’m not sold on either as a superstar in the league, but they are great young players.  Obviously developing Simmons outside shot is an important goal of the assistant coaches in Michigan.  This team also needs to work on some of it’s veterans, Batum is on the way down, and Morris will likely leave.  They need to get some more leaders in that locker room because it’s been proven that Kyrie can’t do it.