The Detroit Pistons put together an historic turnaround in their first season under coach J.B. Bickerstaff going from 14 wins to 44, while earning a trip to the playoffs for the first time in six years.
Now it’s on to Year 2, which begins Wednesday night on the road against the Chicago Bulls.
The Pistons have preached there are no internal expectations of how far this year’s team will go, but after reaching the playoffs and returning a young core of players they have trust in, there’s going to be plenty of reason to watch them as a potential threat in the Eastern Conference.
As Detroit gets set for its 79th season, here are five storylines to watch for as the season begins this week.
Cade Cunningham’s ascent to super stardom
There’s no more debating that Cade Cunningham is one of the most talented guards in the league after a career year in 2024-25.
But more growth on the part of the All-NBA Third-team selection could catapult him firmly into the MVP conversation after placing seventh last season.
Cunningham averaged 26.1 points, 9.1 assists and 6.1 rebounds per game on 47% shooting from the field. He’s focused on developing even further as a three-point shooter after making 36% of his attempts the past two seasons.
It may have just been preseason play, but Cunningham hit 7-of-12 attempts from beyond the arc in his three appearances.
It’s been an exciting and entertaining summer for Cunningham as he’s appeared on late-night talk shows, returned home to Arlington, Texas to uplift his community and continue to work on himself after getting a taste of the postseason.
Cunningham’s fifth season in the NBA might just be his best and it would mean big things for the Pistons.
Home-grown talent taking another step forward
While Cunningham is in the upper echelon of the NBA already, the Pistons are counting on more of their former lottery picks to take steps forward in order to keep up the momentum built last season.
While there’s some very young talent like two-way guard Daniss Jenkins and rookie Chaz Lanier just starting to get their feet wet, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Ron Holland are all coming into this season set on performing on another level.
Ivey — who is out at least four weeks after undergoing an arthroscopic procedure last week — and Duren did not have their rookie contracts extended. So this is now a contract season for both, who will enter restricted free agency at the end of the year.
Duren, 21, is set to take on more for the Pistons offense this season after showing steady improvement last year and averaging 11.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.1 blocks in 78 regular-season games.
But Ivey, 23, is in a strange position where he only competed in 30 games last season — posting 17.6 points per game on 46% overall shooting — before a season-ending injury. Now set to miss more time, it will be another month or so before we see post-injury Ivey get back on the court.
Thompson and Holland are entering their third and second NBA seasons, respectively. Each a former No. 5 overall pick, they expect to factor even further into this year’s roster.
That should mean more on-ball opportunities for Thompson and more consistent chances to get on the court for Holland after playing about 15 minutes per game as a rookie.
Properly replacing players lost in free agency
The Pistons want to lean on their young core of returning players. But some of last season’s key contributors are gone and their production must be accounted for.
Of Detroit’s 10-man postseason rotation, guards Tim Hardaway Jr., Dennis Schröder and Malik Beasley are no longer with the team.
It’s possible Beasley could return as he remains a free agent and the Pistons do have one spot remaining on their active roster, but there’s no signs of an imminent reunion.
Those three accounted for nearly half of the team’s three-pointers last season, over a quarter of their total points in the regular season and brought some veteran experience to the team.
The Pistons went out and brought in veterans Caris LeVert, Duncan Robinson and Javonte Green to fill in those gaps. Alongside forward Tobias Harris, those four are the only players on the roster older than 26.
Robinson and LeVert — former Michigan standouts — in particular figure to have large roles off the bat in Ivey’s absence and their status as solid NBA scoring threats.
While these weren’t huge moves, there’s a familiarity with Bickerstaff and LeVert from their days in Cleveland that make him a good fit for his system and Robinson is a career 40% three-point shooter.
They might not reach an historic season like Beasley did from beyond the arc, but it’s important they remain productive alongside the Pistons’ young talent in the coming season.
Will the Pistons make a major move before the trade deadline?
The Pistons didn’t make any big splashes over the offseason or during free agency, opting to leave their faith with their own talent taking the necessary steps to take the team to the next level.
But it’s certainly going to be worth watching as the trade deadline approaches how the Pistons are situated.
President of basketball operations Trajan Langdon has been conservative with dealing any assets since taking over in his role, so the Pistons have a lot of draft capital to work with, a large expiring contract in Harris on the books and a $14 million trade exception from dealing Schröder.
Langdon’s been clear he won’t jump at a move for the sake of it and has always made a point that he’s in favor of giving the Pistons optionality throughout the season.
Whether the move is to sure up a weak spot, acquire an All-Star caliber player to boost the lineup or potentially add for the future in the event Harris, Duren or Ivey isn’t around next season, we could be on a path for one of the more intriguing deadlines for Detroit in recent memory.
Are the Pistons still a playoff team?
This is the elephant in the room.
The Pistons made an historic surge in Year 1 under Bickerstaff. They have a lot of exciting players, including one of the best guards in the league, a coaching staff that delivered big off the bat and the experience that comes with a trip to the playoffs.
Surely Detroit is ready to make the postseason a regular occurrence?
It’s no certainty. The Pistons lost some key guys whose over performance was an important reason Detroit won 44 games.
But, the Pistons are making a solid bet that their draft picks over the years are going to keep getting better and the Eastern Conference is not looking nearly as competitive as a season ago.
Detroit hasn’t been to the playoffs in back-to-back seasons since 2008-2009. It would be a big deal for the Pistons to string together some winning seasons and there’s clearly a path if the roster stays healthy and picks up where it left off last season.
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