The Washington Wizards need hope. The Detroit Pistons show what's possible

DETROIT In a dismal season, Tuesday night provided yet another reminder of how far away the Washington Wizards are from NBA relevance.

The resurgent Detroit Pistons, led by young star Cade Cunningham and physical center Jalen Duren, walloped the Wizards, 123-103.

Even the presence of veterans Khris Middleton, Marcus Smart and Richaun Holmes did not help Washington enough.

Detroit led by double digits throughout the games final 27 minutes.

Advertisement But Tuesdays beatdown also offered the Wizards hope for their future hope courtesy of a road map the Pistons took themselves.

Detroit, at 37-29, sits in sixth place in the Eastern Conference right now, but last year, Cunningham and company slogged their way through a season as miserable as anything Washington has experienced during its current rebuild.

The Pistons finished 14-68, with one fewer victory than the Wizards.

What changed for Detroit? Cunningham has been almost fully healthy this season, missing only five games because of injuries.

The Pistons made a needed coaching change during the offseason, swapping out Monty Williams for defensive-oriented J.B.

Bickerstaff.

And Trajan Langdon, the teams first-year president of basketball operations, brought aboard key veterans Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris via free-agent signings and Tim Hardaway Jr.

and Dennis Schroder via opportunistic trades.

The veterans have complemented Cunningham so well that they have helped him take a leap in his fourth NBA season.

Beasley and Hardaway space the floor.

Harris can score.

And, as Bickerstaff explained to reporters before tipoff, Schroder can handle the basketball reliably when opposing defenses ramp up their defensive pressure, giving Cunningham needed breaks during a game.

The Pistons started to rely more heavily on their veterans after Jan.

1, when talented third-year guard Jaden Ivey broke his left leg.

Ivey remains a crucial part of Detroits future, but Detroit has become more defensive-minded in his absence, with second-year wing Ausar Thompson taking on a larger role; the Pistons ranked 20th leaguewide in points allowed per possession through their first 33 games and ranked second in the 33 games since , a full 4.4 points stingier per 100 possessions.

Of course, none of Detroits sudden ramp-up would have been possible if not for Cunningham, who was the No.

1 pick in the 2021 draft.

The Pistons won the lottery that year after they posted the second-worst record in the league, 20-52, and entered the lottery with a 14 percent chance of securing the winning combination.

Advertisement The current Wizards own a league-worst 13-51 record.

Even if they finish this season with merely the leagues third-worst record passing the Utah Jazz (15-50) and the Charlotte Hornets (16-48) in the standings the Wizards still would enter the lottery with the same odds for the top-four picks as the Jazz and Hornets, at 14 percent to win the top pick, 13.4 percent to receive the second pick, a 12.7 percent likelihood to draft third and a 12 percent chance to select fourth.

For the Wizards rebuilding plan to work, luck and perhaps an abundance of patience will be necessary.

Is it deflating to know that so much of Washingtons rebuild will hinge on the random bounces of ping-pong balls this year, in 2026 and maybe even in 2027? Yes, it is.

But in addition to the value of blind luck, what the Pistons revival demonstrates is the importance of having the right coach in place and how a few smart acquisitions can bring out the best in key young players.

A savvy coach hire and well-thought-out roster moves require skill.

Every franchise is different different views, different cultures, different angles that they use, Smart, who came to Washington at this years trade deadline, said Tuesday night.

J.B.

does a good job with them over there; theyve got a good coaching staff, with guys over there thats helping them.

...

Hes got them on the right path, and thats what you want.

Im not suggesting that one year from now, Washington will have anything close to a 37-29 record through the first 66 games of their 2025-26 season.

Even if the Wizards emerge from Junes draft with Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper, it will take time to turn a corner.

After the San Antonio Spurs went 22-60 during the 2022-23 season and won the 2023 lottery they remained 22-60 during Victor Wembanyamas rookie season (with the caveat that Wembanyama played in 71 of the 82 games).

Advertisement While the Pistons example should provide hope, it is partly a cautionary tale.

Detroit started its rebuild in earnest in 2020, led by executive Troy Weaver, and the franchise endured four full seasons of on-court misery to reach this point, with records of 20-52, 23-59, 17-65 and 14-68 .

One reason the Pistons did not make collective progress sooner was Cunninghams health; a stress fracture in his left shinbone limited him to 12 games during the 2022-23 season.

(Last June, the Wizards hired Weaver as a senior advisor to complement a front office headed by Monumental Basketball president Michael Winger and general manager Will Dawkins.) The Wizards have stockpiled an interesting group of first- and second-year players, including Bub Carrington, Bilal Coulibaly, Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr and Tristan Vukcevic.

Perhaps one or more of them will develop into a top-five player on a contending team.

Perhaps none of them will.

The truth is, its too early to know.

Youngsters progress, and potential, can be challenging to measure, especially when they play so many minutes simultaneously.

A teams progress is not necessarily linear, as Detroit has shown.

Washington will need to keep that in mind in the years ahead.

Its yet another way that the Pistons have something to teach the Wizards.

(Top photo of Bub Carrington and Dennis Schroder: David Reginek / Imagn Images).

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