The Pistons are in year 4 of their rebuild (some would say they’ve been rebuilding since the Drummond draft), and currently seem to be taking steps backwards with their young core.
Cade is currently the least efficient player to average 20+ ppg in the league & Monty has been questionable with his coaching patterns. Their 2020 draft where they selected Hayes, Stewart, & Bey, has been a failure considering who was available on the board. They had similar cap money to Houston this off-season & instead of adding quality vets to help their core, they took on expiring contracts for players that aren’t even in the rotation.
There is no doubt they are the “black eye” of the league, & have been for some time.
I think they do. Is just a matter of growth. Cade could very well need to take the Wiggins path instead of the Ant.
Cade has the kind of physical attributes and skill set that could make him top 10. I don’t think he’s a lead ball handler, they need a starting PG who can steer the offense, with Cade providing the wild card that breaks teams down.
Duren might be the best of the bunch, at what is still probably the most impactful position in the NBA.
Ivey, Thompson, and Stewart all have ideal role-player skill set for good teams.
Again it’s about potential, eventually there will come a point where we say “Damn, Cade is just fucking inefficient.” and we stop saying he’s that guy.
Honestly the more I watch Cade the more I think he doesn’t have the physical attributes to be top 10. It’s kinda weird watching a big PG who isn’t a bad shooter struggle to create space. Only other similar guy I can think of is D’Lo