Injuries slowed progress of developing Pistons and Hornets

The Detroit Pistons entered the season with a young nucleus ledby Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft. There wastalk of a new phase of their rebuild.

Instead, they appear poised to finish with the worst record inthe NBA.

An injury to Cunningham limited him to 12 games this season, andDetroit has lost 14 of its last 15 to fall to 16-56. The EasternConference’s second-worst record belongs to the Charlotte Hornets,who have dealt with their own major injury to LaMelo Ball. Insteadof showing progress in 2022-23, both teams have had to spendanother season being patient.

“We’ve been doing it with young players, and their developmentis our situation now with our record,” Pistons coach Dwane Caseysaid recently. “But for me, their growth, a young man like JamesWiseman, a young man like Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, those guys’growth is our record. We don’t talk about wins, we talk abouthaving small victories, whether it’s rebounding, transitiondefense, those little things that probably the everyday fanwouldn’t pay attention to. But for us, that’s growth, because forus, the pot of gold is at the end of the rainbow.”

Pistons fans can be forgiven for thinking they were a bit closerto the end of that rainbow before this season. They’d added Iveyand Duren, two of the top 13 picks in last year’s draft, andCunningham was coming off a strong rookie season. Detroit had alsoacquired Bojan Bogdanovic from Utah in a trade.

Casey said at the time the Pistons were young, but the mosttalented they’d been since he took over in 2018.

But Cunningham didn’t play after Nov. 9 and eventually hadseason-ending surgery on his shin. The Pistons acquired Wiseman,the second overall pick in 2020, from Golden State. He had 22points and 13 rebounds against Miami on Sunday, but that was yetanother defeat.

The Hornets (23-50) also feel strongly about their future, butthis season has been nothing short of a disaster for coach SteveClifford in his return to Charlotte.

Ball, taken one pick after Wiseman in 2020, was an All-Star lastseason but has been limited to 36 games in 2022-23 due to threeleft ankle sprains and a fracture in his right ankle. Ball iscurrently in a walking boot and on crutches and is done for theseason.

He said Monday he expects to be ready for training camp inSeptember.

Charlotte went 43-39 last season. But even before their injuryproblems, the Hornets’ 2022-23 campaign seemed doomed. Restrictedfree agent Miles Bridges, the team’s leading scorer last season,was arrested on domestic abuse charges and never re-signed. Hepleaded no contest.

Clifford does feel good about the young talent on the roster,including the development of rookie Mark Williams and NickRichards, the team’s two young 7-foot centers. He’s also high onforward JT Thor and guard Bryce McGowens.

“I think Nick Richards has emerged and he can be in the rotationfor a good team, and Mark Williams is every bit the defender, ormaybe even more, that people thought he could be, and much betteroffensively,” Clifford said.

Unlike the Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs, the two teamsbringing up the rear in the West, the Pistons and Hornets haven’thad success in the particularly recent past. Detroit hasn’t won aplayoff game since 2008. Charlotte made the play-in round lastyear, but that was the Hornets’ lone winning season of the pastseven.

The injuries to Cunningham and Ball have made this seasonanother dreary one for the Pistons and Hornets, but the presence ofthose two players mean improvement could certainly come quickly ifthey’re back to full health. And now Detroit and Charlotte can lookforward to more high draft picks.

“It’s a rebuilding year,” Casey said. “But in the future, theselast two years is really going to pay off for the franchise and forthese players.”

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AP Sports Writer Steve Reed contributed to this report.