On Monday, the Toronto Raptors became the latest victims to the force of nature that has become the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit has now won nine of its last 10 games and has been destroying teams, boasting the league’s second-best offence, defence and net rating over that span.
So, what has caused this reversal? It’s simple, really: Pistons head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy essentially told Josh Smith to take a hike, and Detroit’s fortunes have turned around as if by magic.
As a result of this sudden and surprising change, the Pistons are being compared around the NBA to the Raptors of last season following the Rudy Gay trade.
The comparison isn’t a perfect fit as Toronto ended up getting key bench pieces Patrick Patterson and Greivis Vasquez, and ended up turning John Salmons into Lou Williams, but there are enough similarities there to warrant a closer examination.
The first table below compares this season’s Pistons (before and after Smith’s departure) with last year’s Raptors (before Gay was traded and the 10 games after the trade) on a broader level. The second looks at the individual performances of Brandon Jennings—who has appeared to benefit the most with Smith no longer in Detroit—and Kyle Lowry, who also saw his production take an immediate leap following the Gay trade.
All statistics compiled via NBA.com/stats.
A quick glance at both tables shows a lot of similarity between the Raptors’ turnaround last season and what the Pistons are going through right now. What’s most interesting is the similarities between Lowry and Jennings. Following the trade, Lowry took hold of the reigns of the Raptors and became, arguably, the team’s best player; by the looks of things Jennings is doing exactly the same thing for Detroit.
So, are the Pistons this season’s Raptors? The jury’s still out on that as Toronto would finish with a 41-22 record, an Atlantic Division title and the third seed in the Eastern Conference. These are tough accomplishments to match, but who’s to say the Pistons can’t do it? They’re 9-1 in the post–Josh Smith era, sit only two games back of the eighth spot in the East and are playing some incredible basketball right now.
Regardless of what ends up happening, just like the Raptors last season Detroit is too compelling a story to take your eyes off of and should continue to be monitored with great interest as the season progresses.