Former Pistons guard calls out team for tanking in final months

Well, Evan Fournier, tell us how you really feel.

In a recent interview with Eurohoops, the former French-born guard didn’t hold back when discussing his brief stint with the Detroit Pistons.

Following the 2023-24 season, Fournier played for the French national team in the Summer Olympics, helping his country take home a silver medal. When reflecting on the experience, Fournier sounded like a previously frustrated player during his time with the Pistons.

“Going from Detroit to the Olympics gave me life. I want to continue like this,” he said.

Last season, the Pistons acquired Fournier from the Knicks in a multi-player trade at the NBA deadline, which sent Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks out of Detroit. Fournier went from barely playing on a playoff team to joining a Pistons squad that finished 14-68, the worst record in franchise history.

As a result of the historically bad season, one in which they set the single-season losing streak record, the Pistons and former general manager Troy Weaver parted ways. Soon after, the team fired Monty Williams as head coach after just one season.

These moves followed Pistons owner Tom Gores’ decision to hire former Pelicans executive Trajan Langdon as president of basketball operations.

One major criticism of Weaver’s tenure was the roster construction, which led to the team failing to win more than 23 games in any season during his time. Fournier added to this criticism in subsequent remarks about his time in Detroit, discussing how he didn’t enjoy basketball over his last two NBA seasons and highlighting the “dark sides” of the league.

“I think one of the dark sides of the NBA is when teams are losing on purpose to get the higher draft picks…tanking,” Fournier said. “My last two months in Detroit, the organization was great, but it was a young team that wasn’t necessarily trying to win. When you’re my age, it’s hard to go through that. I knew this is not what I wanted for my career.”

Fournier stated for this same reason, he turned down an offer from the Washington Wizards, whom Weaver joined in a senior advisor role after leaving Detroit.

Since 2019, the Pistons have consistently been in the NBA lottery, picking in the top five for the last four seasons. In 2021, they drafted Cade Cunningham with the No. 1 overall pick. In the next three drafts, they selected Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, and Ron Holland II, all with the No. 5 overall pick.