After Trading Away Andre Drummond, The Pistons Are A Must-Fade

• The Detroit Pistons are 1-7 since they traded away center Andre Drummond on February 6th.

• The Pistons are 4-4 against the spread over that time and have been the underdog in all but one game.

• They’ve only averaged about 100 points per game since Drummond, followed by Reggie Jackson, were cast off. 

• Fading the Pistons looks like a good call the rest of the way, given their circumstances.

• The Pistons travel to take on the Kings on Sunday evening and opened as 7.5-point underdogs. VIEW THE GAME PAGE

Here’s a newsflash, the Detroit Pistons are not good. They are terrible, in fact, and that just may be by design at this point as they have gotten rid of their best players and are obviously tanking for a top draft pick.

But just how bad are they? Well, since they dealt star center Andre Drummond to the Cavs on February 6 for a bag of balls and bought out guard Reggie Jackson after the All-Star break, they’ve taken their futility to a new level. Let’s look at the numbers. It’s not pretty, which is why they are in must-fade territory.

Slip, Slidin’ Away

On February 5, the Pistons were 19-34 after a 116-108 win over the Suns. It was only their third win in the previous 10 games, but still, they were in 10th place in the Eastern Conference, just four games behind Orlando for the last playoff spot. But apparently at that point, Pistons brass said “season over”, because the next day they traded away center Andre Drummond to the Cavs for almost nothing. If you want details, it was for Brandon Knight, John Henson, and a future second round pick. 

They proceeded to lose their next seven games, during which time they bought out probably their best (or second-best) player, Jackson. Jackson signed with the Clippers on February 20.  That losing streak didn’t end until this past Friday night when they beat that same Suns team, this time in Phoenix, 113-111. The Pistons are now 20-41 and in 12th place in the conference, but they seem well on their way to sinking even lower.

Since Drummond was dealt, the Pistons are 1-7 straight up and 4-4 against the spread. Since Jackson was let go, they are 1-3 straight up and 2-2 ATS. On the season, the Pistons are 23-37 against the spread and 11-30 as the underdog, which, going forward, they will pretty much always be, given their lack of talent. 

Fade Away

Over the last eight games they have averaged just 100.2 points per game, which is well below their 107.8 season-long average. The Pistons have only been favored once in the last eight games, by 3.5 over Charlotte, which they lost 87-76. 

Over the last two months of the season, the Pistons will be tanking, not necessarily on purpose, just because they stink. They have very little offensive firepower outside of Derrick Rose, so points will be hard to come by. Christian Wood has been a solid contributor, but beyond that, the cupboard is pretty bare, although Luke Kennard is due back from injury in early March and should provide some extra punch. They’ll be a considerable underdog most nights, but given where they are and where they are going (to the land of the most ping pong balls), it’d be smart to fade away from the Pistons like a LeBron James fallaway.