There was a running joke floating around the internet this preseason centered around the Pistons and their roster. The punchline: “Detroit would be NBA champions if it were 2010.”
The jab wasn’t too clever, as half of the Pistons’ players were running around at recess and trading Lunchables with classmates at the turn of the decade. The premise, however, carried some logic. Blake Griffin, Derrick Rose and Joe Johnson were the three elder statesmen on Detroit’s roster just last week. And in 2010, all three were considered among the elite of the NBA. Griffin, after missing the entirety of what was supposed to be his rookie season due to injury, was the NBA’s Rookie of the Year and an All-Star during the 2010-11 season. Rose, well, he was crowned as the league’s youngest MVP that year. Johnson was selected for his fifth straight All-Star game. The 2019 Pistons very well could have been NBA champs in 2010, but Doc Brown’s time…
