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Kevin Pelton, ESPN senior writer
Over the past three seasons, the Detroit Pistons And Houston Rockets were by far the NBA’s two worst-performing teams on the court, winning 59 games (Houston) and 60 (Detroit), respectively. The accumulation of losses has given these teams a series of lottery picks, including the first two in 2022 (Cade Cunningham And Green Jalen) and twins Amen And Ausar Thompson This year.
After adding Dillon Brooks, Fred VanVleet and other veterans in free agency, the Rockets have shown dramatic improvements early in the 2023-24 season, including a recent six-game winning streak.
Conversely, the Pistons have yet to turn the corner despite signing coach Monty Williams in a deal that made him the highest-paid coach in the NBA at the time (Gregg Popovich has since surpassed him). Detroit remains mired at the bottom of the NBA standings at 2-10.
What can we learn from the contrasting approaches adopted this summer by the Pistons and the Rockets? And how can Detroit get the same type of development from Cunningham that we’ve seen from Houston’s young talent this season?
Throughout the NBA season, I will answer your questions on the latest and greatest basketball topics, which can be sent directly to [email protected].
Let’s move on to this week’s Pistons and Rockets themed questions.
“Does putting better players or offensive structure around prospects lead to development? Basically thinking about Houston and how Green and Alperen Sengun I look so much better playing against FVV and Brooks.” — Saurabh
