The talk of all the award races -- from the M.V.P. to the Defensive Player of the Year -- has dominated the pre-playoffs conversation. Given how much fun the debate for these accolades has been, it seems unnecessary to advocate for an entirely new piece of (fictitious) hardware. But if there was an NBA trophy for the year’s strangest season, the Detroit Pistons would be a heavy favorite to win it.

Most NBA clubs have experienced the typical ups and downs that go with the marathon 82 game schedule. Teams like Golden State or Atlanta feasted on a steady diet of winning, while lottery dwellers like New York and Philadelphia could be relied on to be consistently awful. Due to trades and injuries, some teams -- like Oklahoma City -- have had pretty extreme ups and downs.

But even the Thunder can’t match the wild roller coaster the Pistons were on the past six months. Detroit has experienced roughly five seasons worth of madness in one year. And each one has told us a different story about a team that head coach/team president Stan Van Gundy is expected to make a contender very soon.

Season One: The Josh Smith Debacle Continues

Despite rumors over the summer of Smith possibly being dealt to Sacramento, Detroit opened the year with the frustrating forward on their roster. There was hope that Van Gundy, the excellent tactician that he is, could somehow tweak his system to coax productive out of Smith even given his poor fit alongside young frontcourt stalwarts Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond. That optimism vanished quickly.

Over the first 28 games, the Pistons produced a dismal 5-23 record before releasing Smith in late December. And despite a few close losses during that stretch, the underlying numbers proved it wasn’t a fluke. Their -6.7 point differential would have ranked them 25th over the course of a full season. The Pistons putrid offensive rating of 97.6 would landed the team in the bottom three of the league.

Any piece of data you looked at concluded that a Detroit team with Smith on it was a disaster. So without any deals to his liking, Van Gundy released Smith, taking a lot of heat in the process. But it also sparked one of the weirdest stretches of basketball we’ve seen since Linsanity.

Season Two: The Turnaround

Freed from the mercurial and ill-fitting talent of Smith, the Pistons suddenly transformed into a powerhouse. While the team certainly benefited from a soft schedule during the month following Smith’s release, the Pistons flipped their point differential from -6.7 to +6.4 en route to a 12-4 record -- the third best in league during that time frame. Their offense also went from unwatchable to unstoppable (107.9 offensive rating) and even their defensive rating was more in line what we’ve come to expect from a Van Gundy-coached club.

Powering this all was Jennings. Helped by additional time for stretch 4’s Jonas Jerebko and under-the-radar acquisition, Anthony Tolliver, Jennings turned into an offensive bellcow, averaging 19.8 points and 7.1 assists per game while shooting a shade under 40 percent from 3-point territory on 6.5 attempts per game. The diminutive point guard also authored four double-digit assist games , including an unreal 21-assist outing against Orlando, his last full game before tearing his achilles.

And with that injury, a Pistons team that had already experienced the lows of a lottery dweller and the highs of a playoff contender, found themselves on a more mundane path.

Season Three: A New DJ

With Jennings out, Van Gundy turned to offseason acquisition DJ Augustin to continue the Pistons surprise playoff push. Augustin received his contract in part for his job saving the Bulls season in similar fashion a year earlier. And though Augustin performed well as a starter over the next ten games -- 20.8 points and 8.2 assists per game while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from 3 -- Detroit as a whole was treading water.

The team went 4-6 with Augustin captaining their offense with a point differential of .3. Thanks to being in the East, Detroit’s 21-33 record had them just a game out from the eighth seed. Yet Van Gundy felt compelled to make a big splash at the trade deadline with his eye on the future.

Season Four: Reggie Jackson Comes to Town

When the smoke after the trade deadline cleared, the Pistons had (yet another) new look. In came disgruntled Thunder guard Reggie Jackson and sage vet Tayshaun Prince. Out went Augustin, Jerebko, Kyle Singler and reserve wing Luigi Datome. I wrote at the time that it seemed like Van Gundy was trying to both contend for the playoffs this year while also building a roster with a core on the same timeline for the future. Unfortunately, the Pistons cratered immediately upon Jackson’s arrival.

Over the next 11 games, Detroit went 1-10 and were outscored by Smith-level margins (-5.4). Their offense also dipped back to being among the league’s worst while Jackson put up horrendous shooting numbers -- 37.1 percent from the field and 24.1 percent from 3. In just over a month, the playoffs were back to being a pipe dream. And while those 11 contests certainly can’t be used a referendum on Jackson’s long-term potential with the franchise (though he is a restricted free agent and not necessarily a lock to be back), it made questions about the Pistons future a bit murkier. Especially given the final chapter in their increasingly strange year.

Season Five: The Greg Monroe Paradox

With things already spiraling downward, Monroe spent 11 games from mid-March to early April watching in street clothes. As one of the team’s most accomplished scorers in the midst of compiling a career high PER of 21.2, it seemed like the precursor to a depressing end to Van Gundy’s first year. Yet in his absences, the Pistons went on another mini-surge.

Though not nearly a Jennings-esque revival, Detroit went 7-4 with Monroe out. Five of those wins coming against playoff teams, but more importantly, they came thanks to improved play from their new point guard. Jackson was markedly better during this stretch sans Monroe, upping his shooting percentages to 49.4 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3 while averaging 20.9 points and 10.8 assists per game. And as if those numbers weren’t damning enough, the Pistons promptly dropped three of last four games when Monroe returned to the lineup.

What Comes Next?

It’s hard to figure out what exactly the Pistons were this season. Were they just a mid-lottery also-ran, as their record implies? Or were they a playoff team done in by injuries and a the misfortune of having previous management leave an ill-fitting piece on their roster?

While most teams in the same position have a clear idea of what to do next, it’s hard to figure out what direction Detroit takes from here. The team is probably just a smart summer away from being a real factor in the East, especially given the coaching prowess of Van Gundy. But what moves they make to do that requires them to make sense of such a strange season, particularly given the most recent events with Monroe.

At 24 and one of the most statistically productive bigs in the league, Monroe fits right into the same age bracket as Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Andre Drummond. In theory, re-signing him creates an intriguing four-man core. And though the team struggled pairing him with Jackson, Monroe was healthy and playing during their scintillating stretch with Jennings -- who, by the way, is still under contract next season (though his injury will likely cause him to miss the first month or two).

Along with the impending restricted free agency of Jackson, these dilemmas that arose during an unpredictable season are what makes Detroit such a fascinating team both now and in the future. So though they eventually wound up in a group of forgettable teams in the midst of forgettable years, don’t forget to take notice of the Pistons chaotic campaign.