The Detroit Pistons Might Be The Greatest Bad Team We've Ever Seen

Chris Schwegler. Getty Images.

Rebuilding in the NBA is tough, especially for a market like Detroit. They aren't exactly a top free agent destination for the league's best players. That means they need to go about their rebuild a little differently. It's why they had to drastically overpay for someone like Jerami Grant (who has been FANTASTIC) in free agency. At 6-18, the Pistons are tied for the worst record in the NBA. They are nailing that part of the rebuild process. There's no reason for them to try and live in NBA purgatory where they aren't good enough for the play in game or even the 8 seed but not bad enough to not be really bad. You may as well strive for the bottom. 

I have to give them credit, they are executing this tank to perfection. Of those 6 wins? Here's the list

Celtics

Suns

Heat

Sixers

Lakers

Nets

Now, the Celts didn't have Kemba, but had both Jays. The Suns had their normal starters, the Sixers were without Embiid but had everyone else. The Heat were missing a ton with only Bam/Duncan Robinson so maybe they get a pass, but the Lakers are still the Lakers even if they didn't have AD and the Nets had Kyrie/Harden last night. For their only wins to be that group is exactly what you want during a tanking season.

You need a reason to keep your fans interested/excited, and I would say beating that group of teams does exactly that. Part of it is probably those teams playing down to their competition a little bit, but you think that matters to the Pistons or their fans? If you're going to win games, you may as well only do it against the really good teams to help give hope for the future. It would be a long ass season as a fan if you had to watch your team get ragdolled every game. You have to give a ton of credit for the Pistons for playing these teams tough, even with guys out. It's exactly what I would want to see if my team were tanking/rebuilding.

After beating the Nets last night if you were on NBA Twitter last night you probably saw this fantastic video 

from a fan that covers the team. This is exactly what I'm talking about. It makes me happy for Pistons fans. The fact that they are beating these teams makes no goddamn sense given how bad they are but for whatever reason they become unstoppable against the elite teams in the league. That has to be encouraging for that fanbase moving forward.

Compare this tank to someone like the Wolves, who are also 6-18. What do Minnesota fans have to be excited about? Same record, but completely different feel if you ask me. It also doesn't help that they don't even own their first round pick, so that stings. At least with the Pistons you're seeing a team that competes like hell and has shown they can beat any of these good teams on any given night. You add the fact that they do own their first round pick (top 16 protected) and they're most likely going to add another high lottery pick into the mix in what should be a stacked draft. It's going to be a process, but in terms of a rebuild it's hard to ask any more of the Pistons at this point.

It's without a doubt one of the weirder storylines of this early season, but to me this is the perfect tank. They aren't losing on purpose like what we saw the Process Sixers do so the league can't be too mad at them and they are giving their fans just enough hope to keep them engaged by beating the best of the best. Who knows if it ultimately pays off but it has to be one of the more entertaining tanking seasons we've seen in recent memory.