The Hornets makes plans on how to replicate Detroit’s formula next season.

A 29-game losing streak. 14-68 record. 94-290 from 2019-20 to 2023-24.

The Detroit Pistons were not just the worst team in basketball; they were one of the worst teams in U.S. sports.

One season later, they are one of the most exciting teams in basketball with an extremely bright future. With the Lions and Tigers thriving, sports are back in Detroit.

Every season in the NBA, a team that is in the lottery or play-in leaps into the postseason. Detroit and Houston this season, Orlando, Indiana, and Oklahoma City last season, it is a constant in the league.

Looking at the current standings and end of season play, it’s fairly easy to pick out which teams could and should get back into the postseason. The Philadelphia 76ers, Portland Trail Blazers, and San Antonio Spurs all look primed to get into the postseason.

It’s so much easier said than done. If the Hornets want to make the postseason, they desperately need to be healthy. The team has only seen its core four of LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Mark Williams, and Brandon Miller play eight total games together since Miller was drafted in the summer of 2023.

They missed Tre Mann and Grant Williams for essentially the entire season, lost Josh Okogie for a month and a half, saw Josh Green go in and out of the lineup, and towards the end of the season saw Nick Smith Jr start to get injured.

Injury luck is never something you can bank on, it’s exactly that: luck. That being said, if the Hornets can stay healthy, they are certainly going to be playing meaningful basketball in April. Before Mann went down, before Grant went down, before Mark came back, the team was 6-7. They went 13-56 for the remainder of the season.

Staying healthy is priority number one if the squad wants to break the league’s longest postseason drought.

The team owns 14% odds at the top selection in June’s draft, similar to Detroit last season. Detroit fell to pick five, selecting Ron Holland out of the G-League Ignite.

This draft class is significantly better and set to be more impactful than the 2024 class was. No matter where the Hornets land, they will land someone who makes an impact in year one. Whether it be Duke’s Cooper Flagg, one of Rutgers’ duo of Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper, Baylor’s Ace Bailey, or Texas’s Tre Johnson, the team will be successful in this draft.