The loss guaranteed Detroit (39-42) would have a losing season for the first time since 2001 and a first-round date with top-seeded Cleveland this weekend.

It's difficult for players to put into words how a team that has been so dominant in the East for years could become a team that squeaks into the playoffs.

Chalking it up to the changes this season is only part of the problem.

The bigger issue has to do with talent.

All those years of finishing near the top of the Eastern Conference also meant being near the bottom of the NBA draft.

Youngsters such as Amir Johnson, Jason Maxiell and Rodney Stuckey are better players than they were on draft night. But they would have to be much better much faster to keep Detroit as a perennial title contender.

That hasn't happened.

Because of that, the Pistons are where they are -- a playoff team, barely.

Iverson experiment fails

Joe Dumars tried to stave off this decline by adding Allen Iverson, one of the most dynamic scorers of this generation.

But the prolific scoring Detroit craved from Iverson never materialized.

Like the Pistons team he was traded to, Iverson looked like a shell of the player we had been amazed by for so many years.

Back injury. Pouting about coming off the bench.

It doesn't matter what the reason is. The bottom line is, Iverson didn't get it done this season, and neither did the Pistons.

Acquiring him has opened the door for Dumars to significantly upgrade the Pistons' roster.

In past years, Dumars has made moves to fill a need here and there.

That won't cut it this summer.

He needs to add at least one impact player who still has room to get better.

We've seen what great players at the end of their careers look like, and it isn't pretty.

Money available for talent

Money shouldn't be an issue for Detroit, not with the salaries of Iverson ($21 million) and Rasheed Wallace ($13.68 million) coming off the books this summer.

Detroit also should benefit from a shift in the mind-set of NBA teams, many of which have struggled financially more so than in past years due to the wobbly U.S. economy.

We've already seen teams looking to make trades that have nothing to do with improving the product, and everything to do with shedding long-term salaries.

New Orleans tried trading Tyson Chandler this year to Oklahoma City as a cost-cutting measure, but Chandler didn't pass the physical and the deal was killed. Look for the Hornets to shop Chandler again this summer.

Utah's Paul Millsap will be a restricted free agent, and his fellow Jazz teammate Carlos Boozer is expected to opt-out and become a free agent as well. Utah will be hard-pressed to keep both players, along with high-salaried players such as ex-Piston Mehmet Okur, Andrei Kirilenko and Deron Williams, who collectively will make about $39 million next season. There are many others, including Chicago's Ben Gordon, who will show up on the Pistons' radar this summer as free agent targets.

When Dumars made the trade for Iverson, he made no secret that the deal was done in part because of the salary cap flexibility.

But cap space is only worthwhile if you use it wisely.

Dumars' track record suggests that will be the case.

If not, early playoff exits will replace trips to the Eastern Conference finals as the norm in Pistonsville.