The Pistons are looking brutally inconsisent this year- a 24-19 record (they lost only 23 times all of last year) and have realistically zero chance of catching the Cavs for the division title.
Following the Iverson trade, they have not looked very strong at times- I thought the team would click the way the Lakers did after they got Gasol last year.
If the season ended today, they'd have to be the road-team and open in Atlanta (Also, they're only a half-game ahead of the Heat, and I don't think they'd beat Orlando if they fall to sixth).
I ask this:
1. Why isn't the team playing well after the A.I. trade like the Lakers did after getting Gasol?
2. Is their window of opportunity for a title closed or closing?
3. Are they a one-and-done team?
Also, I say this: given how this team has brutally underachieved- only one title when they could have won more- I have long insisted that had they NOT drafted Darko, they'd have won more.
If they added D-Wade or Melo back in 2003 to a team that would win the title, I think they could have seriously repeated or even three-peated.