There are two clear tiers in the East, one featuring the Cleveland Cavaliers and the New York Knicks and the other including the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic.
After that, there’s a litany of teams which can make a case for themselves. Over the course of the next week, this series will focus on some of those teams, including the plucky Detroit Pistons. They surprised many by going 44-38 last season and giving the Knicks all they could handle in the first round.
Under head coach JB Bickerstaff, the Pistons pride themselves on defense and physicality. Led by Cade Cunningham and flanked by Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Tobias Harris, there’s quite a lot to like about what’s happening in Detroit.
There were some personnel changes, though. The Pistons were forced into replacing Malik Beasley while Dennis Schroder moved over to the Sacramento Kings. Is there enough in place to take another step forward or is this team going to face some harsh realities?
Offensive Review
Detroit finished 16th in offensive rating last season, relying on Cunningham’s shot creation and playmaking to drive its success. The Pistons didn’t hoist or make a lot of threes, relying heavily on Beasley’s output in that regard.
They made 1,051 3-pointers last season. Beasley accounted for 319 (30.4 percent) of them. Tim Hardaway Jr., who departed to the Denver Nuggets, made another 168. Together, that’s just over 46 percent of Detroit’s made threes out the window.
New additions Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert will have to do a lot right to replicate that, let alone surpass it. Robinson hasn’t made over 200 threes in a season since 2021-22. LeVert’s career-best mark is 127.
Detroit relied a good chunk on its transition game, having the fourth-highest transition frequency rate and scoring more efficiently (147.9 offensive rating) than anyone else off steals. No one ran more than the Pistons off of live rebounds, either.
Having Jaden Ivey healthy for a full season will certainly alleviate some of the creation burden on Cunningham’s shoulders. What kind of growth Thompson shows offensively will also have a say in Detroit’s level on that end.
Bickerstaff has shown he can instill a good culture and scheme on the defensive end. However, going back to his Cleveland days, there are questions to be asked regarding his offensive creativity.
Defensive Review
This is where Detroit took its biggest step forward, finishing 25th in defensive rating in 2023-24 before climbing to 11th in 2024-25. Isaiah Stewart was a big part of its defensive identity last season, though unfortunately missed most of the playoffs because of injury. He will be relied upon to continue bringing the toughness and rim protection the Pistons need.
Duren had arguably the best season of his young career, showing how his athleticism aids the Pistons on both ends of the floor. Detroit was great at both limiting shot attempts at the rim (sixth) and forcing misses around the basket (seventh).
Thompson will likely look to make a case for an All-Defensive Team this upcoming season.
Schroder’s tenacity and experience will be missed at the guard spot, where Ivey will have to show real two-way impact. Cunningham has great size for his position and will need to be active, even if his energy is prioritized on the offensive end.
Detroit did not defend the 3-point shot well last season. It allowed opponents to shoot 37.1 percent from deep (seventh-worst in the NBA) on a league-average amount of attempts. If the Pistons’ own threes don’t fall often enough for the aforementioned reasons, they could lose the math game more often than not.
Detroit Pistons’ Overall Outlook
Detroit is banking big time on internal growth, which isn’t necessarily a bad bet with a solid young core in a weakened East. Still, it feels like not enough happened this offseason to warrant a substantial uptick in play or jump up the standings.
The Pistons caught quite a few teams off guard with the extent to which they improved last season. They’re not going to be surprising anyone this season. All their expectations of internal growth will have to hit to make another leap.
Fifth place is in play but doing more this summer could’ve made them the favorites for it or, perhaps, even home-court advantage.
As things stand, the Milwaukee Bucks could remain ahead. Even the Toronto Raptors or a healthy Philadelphia 76ers team could usurp them. This very much feels like a season where the honeymoon phase quickly ends.
