Are the Detroit Pistons back? After a stunning trade where the team acquired forward Bojan Bogdanovic from the Utah Jazz, they just might be.

With Cade heading into his second year, with Ivey coming in, with the young core maturing, can the Detroit Pistons actually make the playoffs this year?

The Shooting Problem… Solved?

The Detroit Pistons could not shoot the ball last year. No other way to put it. They were second to last in three-point shooting percentage a season ago, but has that changed?

Add in two veteran players with three-point shooting pedigrees. Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic. Burks shot 40% from three last year, while Bogdanovic shot 39%.

Also, you have to take into account the development of some of the young players. Cade’s three-point shooting will be better. Saddiq will shoot the ball better. Killian Hayes and Isiash Stewart also will look to make improvements.

The Pistons shooting problems from a season ago might not be a problem anymore. It could be a strength.

Detroit Pistons Defense?

The Pistons were not a defensive powerhouse by no means last year. They ranked 24th in defensive rating allowing 112.5 points per game. The question is, have the Pistons been able to make improvements on that end of the floor?

Nerlens Noel will certainly help. He will bring a much-needed veteran presence down low the Pistons were missing last year. The real question lies in the youngsters. How good can the two rookies Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren be defensively. They have all the tools to defend at the NBA level but asking too rookies to step up in that way is almost unheard of.

Worst Comes to Worst

The Detroit Pistons seems to have a fallback plan if everything goes wrong this season. Trade all the veterans.

Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel are perfect examples of this. They both have team options at the end of the season and could be valuable trade chips come this February. Bogdanovic is a player who will hit free agency after this year. The hope is that the Pistons can flip him for a potential first round pick this trade deadline if they decide to move him.

Troy Weaver has seemly done everything he can to position his team to win. The Pistons are a team with a mix of veterans and young guys that could take the next step forward in 2022.

The new look Pistons:

Cade
Ivey
Bey
Bagley III
Stewart

Bench:
Bojan
Hayes
Nerlens
Duren
Burks
Joseph

How many games will Detroit win? pic.twitter.com/JuRG1RDZLo

— StatMuse (@statmuse) September 22, 2022