Harrison Posts Words

The Detroit Pistons just completed the most successful regular season in franchise history in more than a decade. Detroit went 60–22, finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference and entered the playoffs as one of the NBA's strongest regular-season teams. The Pistons then defeated Orlando in seven games before losing to Cleveland in Game 7 of the second round. That creates an interesting question heading into the 2026–27 season. Detroit has already demonstrated that this young core can become one of the best regular-season teams in the league. The next stage of the rebuild requires figuring out what that success actually means for the organization's championship potential. The easiest question to ask is whether the Pistons can win 60 games again. I am less interested in that question. Detroit has already gone from 14 wins to 44 wins to 60 wins in just two seasons. The more important question is whether the players Detroit is building around can continue developing ...

The Los Angeles Clippers have spent the last several years trying to build a championship team around Kawhi Leonard. That strategy produced the most successful period in franchise history, including the Clippers' first Western Conference Finals appearance in 2021. It also left the organization with a complicated future, and the NBA's punishment for its handling of the Kawhi situation has made that future considerably more difficult. The Clippers were fined $30 million, Steve Ballmer was suspended for one year, Lawrence Frank and Gillian Zucker received suspensions, and Kawhi Leonard was fined $700,000. The most significant part of the punishment for the basketball operation came through the draft, with the NBA eliminating five first-round picks from 2029 through 2033 and placing the organization under a five-year compliance and monitoring program. That changes the conversation around the Clippers. The organization still has players, some draft assets and financial flexibility...