What an awful start to the season for our Detroit Pistons. It almost couldn’t get any worse. They’ve won 3 of their first 15 games of the season. They have the worst point differential in the league at -9.7.

Add to that, star point guard Cade Cunningham is out with a shin injury. Good grief, Charlie Brown.

It’s not like the Detroit Pistons have had an overly difficult schedule so far, either. They’ve lost to the Wizards, Pacers, Knicks (twice), and Hawks (twice). Not exactly favorites to win it all.

They’ve lost by double digits in half of their 12 losses. A few of those were by 20 or more points. That’s just not competitive.

The roster isn’t stocked with talent. We all know that. But with Cade in his second year, exciting rookies Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, along with solid role players like Saddiq Bey and Bojan Bogdanovic, you were hoping for a little better start than this.

But there is some good to take out of this horrific start. Two words, one name, Victor Wembanyama. He is an 18-year-old French God of basketball. He’s 7’2, defends like Rudy Gobert, but looks like Kevin Durant on offense. He is a unicorn.

Some NBA Draft “experts” have stated he’s the most exciting prospect since LeBron James. Wembanyama isn’t just a franchise changing player, he’s a league altering guy.

In the NBA, you only need to finish in the bottom three of the league for the draft lottery. The worst three teams have the same odds at obtaining the number one overall pick.

The Pistons currently have the second-worst record. So we’re right on track. Are we sure Cade doesn’t need to miss a few extra games?

Time to Tank

I know it seems early to start throwing around the ‘T’ word but c’mon, you weren’t going to do anything this year anyway, and you’re already 3-12. Let’s start to tank.

If you fundamentally disagree with the art of tanking, I respect that. You want your team to go out and try to win every game. No argument here.

But if you think it’s still too early or there is a chance they can make the playoffs, just stop. Let’s say they make the play-in game and lose, then what? You can feel better that you almost made the playoffs?

What if you make it out of the play-in and then get swept in the first round? Do you really feel great about that? I wouldn’t. Half the league makes the playoffs anyways. Even more than half if you include the play-in games.

You end up with Wembanyama, and combo that with a year of growth out of Cunningham, Ivey and Duren, the Pistons would be contenders to make the conference finals. That’s how good he is.

They’re 3-12, it’s time to start thinking long term. Let’s start tanking for Big Vic.