DETROIT — Amid the eighth season of his NBA career, Kevin Huerter knows he’s come a long way from the first time he was in the playoffs.
In the 2021 postseason, he started as a key bench contributor and eventually moved into the starting lineup for the Atlanta Hawks midway through the second round, dropping 27 points in Game 7 to send his team to the conference finals.
Almost five years later, Huerter’s missed out on the postseason the last two years and craves getting back to meaningful basketball.
Huerter feels like he’s only become a stronger overall player since that postseason experience and now that he’s joined the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons, the 27-year-old is raring to get back on that stage.
“To have the opportunity to join a team like this when I feel good individually, it’s going to be fun to be part of,” Huerter told MLive in a recent interview. “The meaningful games, playing in the playoffs at whatever level, those are the games that are fun that you remember and honestly why you work.”
The Pistons spent their practice on Sunday — one of the team’s last of the regular season with the schedule picking up after the All-Star break — focused on the fundamentals of their system to help get their recent trade acquisition more comfortable.
Coach J.B. Bickerstaff put Huerter in smaller groups and they slowed things down, which served as a huge benefit for him. Huerter got to watch first-hand how the Pistons have been so effective this season in their commanding win over the New York Knicks and developed a better understanding of the team’s identity.
He played the final eight minutes, scoring eight points with the backups when the game was already well in hand. But nothing can teach as well as hands-on experience with the other Pistons he’ll be running alongside soon.
“Any time you can go through the motions of the plays that we’re trying to run or the defensive rotations that are a little bit different than things you’ve done in the past is always super helpful,” Huerter said. “We were able to do that. We went over a lot of our plays and defensively was able to get through a lot of things where I’m just kind of getting used to all the positioning.”
Huerter’s never been in a defensive unit like that of the Pistons, particularly one that trusts guys so much to be playmakers. Detroit relies on being disruptive on defense, leading the league in blocks (6.3) and steals (10.6).
Offensively, Huerter says the Detroit system is more traditional than the positionless structure he was running with the Chicago Bulls before his trade.
Playing in that type of offense allowed him to pick a lot of his own spots, cut to the basket and play in transition, marking a major reason Huerter’s averaging a career-best 64% shooting from two-point range.
During his career, Huerter’s been known more as a sharpshooter with a 37% mark from deep since joining the league, but he ticked down to 31% for the season.
Competing without a top provider in Chicago this season — compared to Atlanta alongside Trae Young or Sacramento with De’Aaron Fox — meant he needed to build up his shooting confidence even more and often had to settle for lower-quality shots he found around the perimeter.
The Pistons won’t be asking quite the same from Huerter. He’s still acclimating to the group, but the hope is that his gravity as a threat from range will pull defenders away from other Detroit shooters.
With an elite supplier like Cade Cunningham on the roster, there’s also a better chance for Huerter to get open looks and get back to his typical shooting form from beyond the arc, in the same way Duncan Robinson has succeeded since joining the Pistons.
But, Huerter’s still got that confidence in his shot-making from midrange and closer that could see the 6-foot-6 wing make more crafty plays inside when the opportunity presents itself.
“I really feel like I’ve been playing really good basketball this year,” Huerter said. “The outside shooting numbers wouldn’t show it, but for me it feels like one of the better years of my career. I feel like I’m in a really good spot to be joining a team like this.”
The Pistons went into their trade deadline not looking to rock the boat too much for a team that’s led the East since November and has a five-game lead just ahead of All-Star weekend.
Huerter was the only addition and now they have the crucial job of fitting him into the team in time for playoffs. That’s exactly where Huerter wants to be and where he’s confident he can thrive.