David Reginek-Imagn Images The Spurs and Pistons have taken similar paths on their rebuilds, and the main reason for the disparity in success has been bad fortune. The Spurs recently suffered a shellacking at the hands of the Pistons. It’s not the worst thing for the Silve r and Black to lose some games at this point, but this one hurt, and not just because of how lopsided it was. No, it hurt because the Spurs could have had a very similar season to the one the Pistons are having this year. It seemed likely at the start of the season and then again after the Fox trade. Alas, a punishing schedule and untimely injuries made it impossible, but the two teams could have been on a similar trajectory instead of one just outclassing the other on their way to a playoff berth. Before the season, the Pistons decided to add some veterans to their young and formerly terrible squad. They brought in Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. to provide some know-how, leadership and consistency to a group that previously seriously lacked it. The objective wasn’t to become an overnight contender, but to become a respectable team that complemented the talent of their young star and to create the structure needed for their younger guys to develop. It went well enough, with Cunningham breaking out and Detroit hovering around .500 for most of the season before a big win streak that put them firmly in the green and showed that they had taken a mini-leap. They are currently sixth in the East, in a playoff spot. The Spurs did something similar. San Antonio added Chris Paul to run point guard and organize the offense for them, and Harrison Barnes to provide much-needed spacing and consistency from the forward spots. Those were their two biggest weaknesses, and they addressed them with veterans while staying young elsewhere. They didn’t go all in by trying to get an older star next to Wembanyama but created a more well-rounded roster that could compete with everyone once Wemby started to play like the superstar he is. San Antonio, like Detroit, hovered around .500 for most of the year and then made a trade that could catapult them further. With De’Aaron Fox in tow, a post-trade deadline push seemed possible, especially with so many disappointing teams in the West. We know how things went. Wembanyama was diagnosed with deep vein thrombosis and ruled out for the season. It happened in the middle of a road-heavy schedule and soon after the deadline. Victor never got to develop chemistry with Fox, who played for a few games before undergoing surgery to fix a finger injury he had been playing through all year. There have been some good individual performances lately, and even some wins, but the season is over for the Spurs. The Pistons, meanwhile, get ready to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2019. They would be underdogs against the third-place Knicks, but with Damian Lillard also being out with deep vein thrombosis and the Pacers looking vulnerable, they could leapfrog Milwaukee and Indiana, get to fourth, and have homecourt advantage in a first-round series if they close the season well. There’s hope in Detroit, not just for the future but this year. And they have done it with basically the same recipe the Spurs used. The obvious takeaway is that luck matters more than most like to admit in the NBA. The Spurs have had an unfortunate season with a lot of negative events beyond their control derailing what could have been a return to the postseason. The Pistons haven’t been nearly as unlucky. The more optimistic conclusion is that the Pistons’ success shows that San Antonio was on the right path before everything went wrong. There are many ways to rebuild, but the one both the Spurs and Detroit picked seems viable, which is good news. With Fox and Wembanyama healthy next season, plus another rookie and a veteran or two, the playoffs should be a lock, as it is for J.B. Bickerstaff’s squad. The blowout the Spurs suffered at the hands of the Pistons hurt because it showed what San Antonio could have had this season if things had gone well. Hopefully next year, as the Silver and Black are the ones running an injury-riddled opponent off the floor late in the season as they prepare for the playoffs, the loss will turn into a positive memory, an early sign that the original plan was sound all along but just required a little more patience and a lot more good fortune. ...read more read less