More often than not, the NBA’s most fulfilling stories can’t be told without a catastrophic prelude. The Detroit Pistons are a perfect example.
Largely thanks to a regressive rotation that stunted their most important player’s development, last season Detroit lost a record-tying 28 straight games and finished with a league-worst record of 14-68—an objectionable horror show on both sides of the ball.
A power wash ensued. Trajan Langdon was hired as the Pistons’ new president of basketball operations. Monty Williams was dismissed as head coach (with $65 million left on his contract), and J.B. Bickerstaff—fresh off his own dismissal by the Cleveland Cavaliers—was tapped to raise the organization’s in-game standards and splash common sense onto their style of play. Detroit’s front office then spent the summer modernizing an antiquated roster—shooting, what a concept!—that should’ve never been built in the first place.
Extensive personnel changes were inevitable after all that losing—the only team with less continuity from last year is the Philadelphia 76ers—but Langdon’s decisions have yielded better results than anyone could have imagined, including him. “It didn’t even enter my thought process, to be honest with you, back last summer,” Langdon said about being in a playoff race amid the season’s stretch run. “It wasn’t something I even thought about at all.” At 38-31 entering Wednesday’s action, the Pistons are already a dozen games above their preseason over-under. It’s more than just a cute turnaround. They’re postseason bound, ingrained with a crucial amount of toughness, skill, dynamism, and poise. Beating them four times in a playoff series will not be easy; advancing to the second round is finally conceivable for a team that hasn’t seen it in 17 years.
Cade Cunningham—an ascending, butter-smooth All-Star who ranks sixth in total points and third in total assists and owns the league’s third-highest usage rate—is a huge reason why. He deserves to see his name on a bunch of MVP ballots and bears as much offensive responsibility as any player in the league. But the Pistons wouldn’t be where they are if not for the progress they’ve made on the other end; they have a relentlessly physical top-10 defense that’s allowing nearly six fewer points per 100 possessions than last year, when they ranked 25th. (It’s the biggest improvement in the league.)
Detroit’s most notable offseason additions—Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Malik Beasley—were nothing to write home about on their own, but together, as respectable 3-point shooters who’ve combined to play 35 NBA seasons, they open the floor, know where to be, and have made Cunningham’s job so much easier. (From last season to now, the only starters who’ve had more years of experience added to their roster are Victor Wembanyama, Devin Vassell, Tyus Jones, and Josh Giddey, per BBall Index. Cade has leaped from the fifth percentile to the 65th percentile.)
The Pistons ranked dead last in wide-open 3-point percentage last year; right now they’re about league average. (Only the Memphis Grizzlies have seen a bigger boost.) In a stat that measures the off-ball shotmaking ability of every player’s teammates, Cunningham’s crew went from the 12th percentile in 2023-24 to the 63rd percentile today, per BBall Index.
More broadly, Detroit’s on-court identity is a rare combination of flash and grit. Since the trade deadline, the Pistons have ranked first in defensive rating and fast-break points and have by far the most prolific and efficient transition offense in the league. It’s not the easiest profile to generate, but understand that embracing a “get stops and run” mentality is a vital way to overcome some of the shortcomings their roster presents. Since Jaden Ivey broke his leg on New Year’s Day, only the Oklahoma City Thunder and Cleveland Cavaliers have had a higher net rating. Dusty lineup combinations better left in the past are nowhere to be seen.
Isaiah Stewart was Detroit’s starting power forward last year. This year, he’s one of the most intimidating backup centers in the league: Opponents are shooting just 52 percent at the rim when he contests their shots—a mark topped by only Daniel Gafford and Wembanyama, per Sportradar. As a team, Detroit is allowing 8.98 fewer points in the paint per 100 possessions than it did last year—the biggest improvement in the league.
There’s a clear, mutually beneficial relationship between this group’s blistering tempo and the roadblocks they put up around the basket:
It’s hard not to applaud the Pistons’ unexpected rise and easy to overlook them as an actual threat to good teams in meaningful games. Like, who is their second-best player? Harris? Beasley? Ausar Thompson? Success at that scale makes zero sense when those are the most prominent names in the team's pecking order. But today’s NBA is less about how sharp the tip of a spear can be and more about how far and fast the muscle gripping it can throw. Top-end talent matters, but a coherent sensibility, collective buy-in, and complementary two-way cogs who play hard for each other are essential, too. (The Cavaliers, Thunder, and Celtics are good examples of this.) It shouldn’t work this well for the Pistons, but it does.
Veterans want minutes and victories. Youngsters want stats and stardom. Everyone wants more money on their next contract. So far, Detroit has done a fantastic job of managing the sorts of conflicts that can taint a locker room and derail a season. Instead, the team is built with short-term urgency and an awareness of its own bright future, and everyone rows in the same direction. The Pistons wanted to win, but not at a cost that would short-circuit any chance of sustainability. Cunningham (23 years old), Jalen Duren (21), Thompson (22), Ivey (23), and Ron Holland (19) may easily form a devastating five-man unit someday. In the meantime, their unique blend of old and new has come together nicely. Rough and graceful. Relentless and sturdy. Everyone is tuned in to the same frequency within a fragile dynamic that, when channeled properly, can yield genuine harmony.
How all this translates in a playoff setting will be fascinating for a team that probably should have some doubts going in. Despite their success, they constantly foul and turn the ball over. Beasley (!) is their second-leading scorer. They’re 10-20 against teams that are .500 and above. And their starting lineup features multiple non-shooters. The depth and hustle that give them an edge during the regular season are less advantageous in an environment where everyone plays hard and rotations shrink. All true.
Also true: Detroit’s half-court offense—a critical element, particularly in the postseason—is respectable when Cunningham is on the court. His pick-and-rolls are foundational without being too formulaic, and the Pistons do a good job of accentuating their franchise cornerstone’s playmaking chops by sprinkling other tactics into the offensive flow, from pistol actions to wide pindowns that quickly whirl into dribble handoffs—and all the while, everyone who seemingly isn’t involved keeps busy on the weakside.
As a whole, they’re generally effective playing at different speeds, whether executing Bickerstaff’s half-court sets (the only team that’s more efficient after a timeout is Cleveland) or sprinting in the open floor. The Pistons have also gone from 10th in drives per 100 possessions last year down to 25th—the biggest drop in the league. Some of that’s due to the speed they’re playing with and their impulse to race up the court, cutting down on half-court sets. But it’s also thanks to the ways they use their outside shooting, leaning into their strengths in some sensible ways. By a very large margin, per Sportradar, no player has made more 3s off motion this season than Beasley (some guy named Steph Curry is second):
Most importantly, the vibes around Detroit are immaculate. If I were to power rank the five most enjoyable qualities of this team every time I watch them play, they would go in the following order:
5. The electric shock that charges through Little Caesars Arena whenever Holland’s pure force justifies his irrational confidence on the open floor. (Also the simple fact that such a competent team has found ways to harness a teenage rookie.)
4. Stewart’s total disregard for decorum and willingness to fight literally anyone on sight. He has an old-school enforcer’s level of hostility, which authorizes everyone on his team to puff their chests out, too. He’s also sacrificed more than anyone else on the roster: Beef Stew’s 3-point rate has plummeted more than any other player’s, while his pick-and-roll, pop, and slip frequency has risen more than that of any big man in the league.
3. The bench’s pinched fingers salute, which happens whenever Simone Fontecchio makes a 3. Ma che vuoi!
2. Cunningham flinging no-look lobs to Duren. It’s a spiritual experience you have to witness for yourself:
1. Literally everything about Thompson. If “number of times he made me trill my lips per 36 minutes” were a stat, Thompson would lead it by a mile. His defense is a steel cage. His athleticism is worthy of an at-large Olympics tryout. His improvisational left-hand finishes are their own creative art form. His unparalleled explosiveness turns impossible motion into digits in a box score.
Thompson can’t shoot 3s, which is a problem that hampers Detroit’s half-court offense whenever it’s bogged down. But there are several ways to circumvent his lack of 3-point prowess that he already understands. When he has the ball, give him 3 feet of room and he’ll make it a runway, either forcing help rotations or scoring on his own in the paint:
Last year’s fifth draft pick is also an elite offensive rebounder who grabs nearly 10 percent of his own missed shots (which puts him in the 97th percentile). And instead of hanging out in the corner and letting his defender strangle oxygen from Cunningham’s pick-and-rolls, Thompson will roam the baseline as a perpetual lob threat. It’s nontraditional gravity, but gravity nonetheless. And those are the weaknesses!
On the other end, where he shines brightest, Thompson ranks second in defensive estimated plus-minus among all players who average at least 20 minutes per game and second in stop percentage (a metric that tallies the number of steals, offensive fouls drawn, and blocks recorded per 100 possessions) among all players who’ve logged at least 1,000 minutes. It’s game-breaking impact with All-Star potential.
It’s too soon to know how the Eastern Conference standings will shake out (the Pistons are currently sixth, one game back of fifth and 5.5 games ahead of the play-in teams), but ESPN’s BRI projections currently give Detroit a 33 percent chance to win a playoff series. Again, this is something that last happened in 2008, when Chauncey Billups, Rasheed Wallace, and Rip Hamilton were still playing. It’s been awhile!
If the Pistons match up against the third-seeded New York Knicks (and a hobbled Jalen Brunson), they could be the favorite. If they snatch the 4-seed and get homecourt advantage against the Milwaukee Bucks or Indiana Pacers, those face-offs will be competitive as hell. Now a year removed from life as a complete laughingstock, Detroit is playing like a group that’s obsessed with wanting everyone to forget its recent past. Soon enough, that just may happen.
Stats current through Monday’s games.
