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The Detroit Pistons were crushed again on Sunday, and their 142-113 defeat at the hands of the Toronto Raptors extended their league-worst losing streak to 11 games. Former No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham cut a frustrated figure when he addressed the media following the defeat. 

"We got to be realistic about the situation," Cunningham said. "It's hard to just be like, 'We're good, we're good,' you know what I'm saying? Because we're bad. We have to address that. We have to address what we're not good at. Address it with not only our words but on the court, in the huddles."

You don't usually hear players lay things out so bluntly, but there's not much else for Cunningham to say at this point. The Pistons are bad, and that might even be putting it nicely when you consider the totality of the last few seasons. Here's just a few notes on their futility since last making the playoffs in 2019:

  • Their 82-234 record in that time is the worst mark in the NBA by a significant margin; no other team has failed to win 100 games in the last four-plus seasons.
  • Their .259 winning percentage is the worst of any team in the four major men's professional North American sports leagues since 2019, and again, it isn't all that close; no other team has a winning percentage below .300 in that time. The NFL's worst is the Carolina Panthers (.303), the NHL's worst is the San Jose Sharks (.349) and the MLB's worst is the Kansas City Royals (.395). 
  • They have four losing streaks of at least 10 games. Only the Houston Rockets (six) have more. 
  • They have nearly 100 more double-digit losses (132) than double-digit wins (37) during this span. Only the Rockets have more double-digit defeats and no one has fewer double-digit victories. 
  • Their 17.3% turnover percentage this season is the worst the NBA has seen since "The Process" Philadelphia 76ers in 2015 (18.3%). 

The Pistons have been a potential breakout candidate for a few seasons now, but it's yet to happen. Injuries have been a big part of the issue, with Cunningham missing the majority of last season and a number of players on the sideline to start this campaign. 

Neither Bojan Bogdanovic nor Monte Morris have played yet, while Jalen Duren and Joe Harris have missed time and Killian Hayes was recently added to the injury report. Add in the second-youngest roster in the league (average age of 23.4 years old) and an adjustment to new head coach Monty Williams, and it's easy to see why they've had a rough start. 

Even so, it's clear the long-running issues in Detroit go beyond some bad injury luck. They are, and have been, losing at a historic rate, and Cunningham, Williams and general manager Troy Weaver have a lot of work to do to turn the Pistons around.