Should The Detroit Pistons Start Tanking?

The Detroit Pistons are off to the worst start ever in franchise history. At 3-19 and in the midst of a 13-game losing streak Pistons fans are subjected to a terrible product almost every time they play.

Sure, they show some occasional signs of life but they’re terrible at closing out games and rely on Josh Smith way more than they should.

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Josh Smith is still somehow averaging more shots than points at 14.5 FGA to a mere 13.5 PPG. Though Smith isn’t the only problem on this team there’s a lot of them. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope has struggled to the tune of a 37.5 FG%. Brandon Jennings has regressed pretty hard from his early-season breakout. Greg Monroe has disappeared for some stretches coming off the bench.

These current Pistons just have too many problems to consistently compete on a nightly basis. They’re a staggering 29th out of 30 in the NBA at a pitiful 92.8 PPG. The only bright spot could maybe be that they’re pretty mediocre at 13th in Opponents PPG at 99.5 PPG.

In short, the Detroit Pistons are pretty terrible. Losing to the Philadelphia 76ers on their home court has them looking at being the worst team in the NBA right now.

The Pistons need to develop their youth to be a competitive team in the future. With players like Drummond, Caldwell-Pope, and Spencer Dinwiddie Head Coach Stan Van Gundy hasn’t done much to cultivate this talent.

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Which brings us the question, should the Detroit Pistons start tanking?

In the last half-decade or so the Pistons have consistently been in the lottery. Except they’ve fallen somewhere in the 7-10 range every time. Though they unexpectedly struck gold in Drummond they never get their chance at a Jabari Parker or Andrew Wiggins.

So at 3-19 this may be the perfect opportunity for the Pistons to go after their next superstar. They can go after Jahlil Okafor or Emmanuel Mudiay to be a potential game-changer.

Also, at this point they might as well embrace the tank. The 76ers have already done it and their fans are generally content with the front office’s plan.

Unless the Pistons go ahead and change the landscape of their team in a trade of Smith or potentially Monroe their losing ways will continue. Jodie Meeks is due to come back which will give them a boost but he will only be able to do so much to this cellar dweller.

The current batch of prospects may not create as much hype as Class of 2014 NBA Draft but at least a few of them will be contributors to an NBA team right off the bat. If the Pistons can snag a solid wing player it has the potential to change the landscape of the team.

Now, your thoughts. Should the Detroit Pistons start tanking? Or should they try to be as competitive as possible? Or just stick with the current plan and see what happens?