Turn off the lights – the 2026-27 NBA season is over.
The Detroit Pistons might as well start getting ready for 2027-28. LeBron James is in Philly (along with Jaylen Brown), Giannis Antetokounmpo is in Miami,
and Kawhi Leonard is (or is not) in Toronto, and we all know NBA titles are won in late July.
Like last July, when everyone gave the New York Knicks the trophy after they signed Jordan Clarkson.
Remember that? How it felt like a forgone conclusion? No?
Oh, that’s right, Oklahoma City was the reason the season would be boring. No one was touching the Thunder. And maybe no one would have if Jalen Williams hadn’t gotten hurt. Maybe a healthy Williams lifts the Thunder over the Spurs in the West finals.
Or not. Who knows?
Which is still the point, I think. Or at least it used to be before we got so suckered into thinking the offseason is some kind of worthy title pursuit on its own.
It is not. Nor does it tell us what we think it does, at least the offseason that we get to see.
As for the offseason we don’t?
That’s where San Antonio lurked last summer when all those youngins got together and decided the Western Conference was about to be theirs.
The Spurs were too young, right? And the Knicks, in all seriousness, were too stale, eh?
So, yeah, James’ decision to take his talents to Philadelphia might make the 76ers favorites on paper, in some circles. Fine, in many circles. But paper won’t help Philly if Joel Embiid can’t move once the playoffs come around. Or if Jaylen Brown doesn’t pass the ball to Tyrese Maxey. Or if James finally looks like he is 42 when he turns 42 this December. (Just ask Justin Verlander about that.)
Actually, that last one is probably the least of the 76ers’ worries. James is an outlier, and possibly not of this world.
Wherever he is from, he wasn’t coming to Detroit, though somehow him making that official Friday, July 24, felt like a gut punch to a fair amount of Pistons fans.
Not that they thought he was coming, but that he chose an East rival had to sting.
No doubt James makes Philly better, and possibly formidable. But then how many times have we had this kind of conversation in July only to watch something unforeseen unfold the following June.
This isn’t to say the Pistons should be anyone’s conference favorite headed into next season – though it should be pointed out that the offseason is far from finished. Nor is it to say that the conference didn’t get better around them.
But it is to say that the Pistons should be better, too. Perhaps much better if their best young players get better – and return (hello, Jalen Duren). That’s the Pistons’ gamble at the moment.
So, wallow in the aftermath of James’ latest decision if you must. Curse Pistons owner Tom Gores and his lack of demand for offseason aggression and bemoan the whispery tone team president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon uses during news conferences. Whatever relieves the pressure.
Just remember, nothing is linear in this here sport, and somebody, at some point, is going to have to get a stop in Philadelphia – and that won’t be easy, either.
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Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: LeBron James is headed to Philly, so that's it for the Pistons, right?
