Detroit Pistons
As recently as March 11, Detroit’s playoff hopes were in good shape. They were at .500 with a record of 33-33 and on March 14, FiveThirtyEight gave them a 68-percent chance to make the playoffs. Since March 11, the Pistons are 2-9 and have more or less played themselves out of the postseason.
There are serious questions surrounding center Andre Drummond. He’s averaging 16.7 points and 16.7 rebounds per 36 — solid numbers — but has an unimpressive +0.9 Box Plus-Minus and hasn’t been the offensive focal point Detroit hoped for.
Point guard Reggie Jackson, benefactor of an $80 million contract in the summer of 2015, has almost completely fallen off. His PER is below league average, plus he has just a 46.8 effective field goal percentage and Detroit has been nearly 10 points better per 100 possessions with him off the floor.
In short, Detroit’s core is on the verge of imploding. The Pistons have put their entire future into Jackson and Drummond, and barring a miracle, they won’t even make the playoffs this season in a terrible Eastern Conference. The last few weeks have been the crux of the disaster. They’ve dropped games to Brooklyn, Chicago, Orlando and New York. Consecutively. At this point, it is clearly time to reevaluate things.