Young stars give Pistons ray of hope amid miserable year

They're seeing this improvement from players who should be the foundation of the next competitive Pistons team. Cade Cunningham, the top pick in the 2021 draft, is averaging 23.2 points and 7.9 assists since the All-Star break, and shooting 39.8 percent from three-point range, where he's become far more dangerous on pull-up threes.

Cunningham's defensive rating has improved from 123 to 117 in that time, and his offensive rating went from 108 to 114. That's a big improvement of 12 points per 100 possessions.

Second-year center Jalen Duren had been a double-double machine all year, averaging 14 points and 12 rebounds. But now his efficiency and his defense are starting to ramp up as well. He's making 66 percent of his shots and getting to the free-throw line at the highest rate of his career. Duren's defensive rating improved from 122 in January to 114 in February to a stingy 111 in March.

Duren lost time to ankle injuries early in the season, but he's shown no signs of trouble in recent games, where he's been a terror on the offensive glass.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is James Wiseman, widely considered a bust after three injury-plagued years to start his career. This month, Wiseman is averaging 17.9 points and seven rebounds in 17 minutes of play, and the Pistons give up only 110 points per possession when he's on the court. He's even flashed some offensive skills.

Best of all, the team is playing extremely hard. The Pistons came back from a 17-point deficit only to lose on a buzzer-beater Sunday. There's no shame in losing to the Miami Heat, even if it's happened three times this month, especially when they pushed last year's Eastern Conference champion to the brink.

We are seeing the seeds of a competitive team that's far better than they were even in January. For a franchise that hasn't won more than 23 games in five years, that counts as a whole lot of hope.