Everyone Wanted the Detroit Pistons to Make a Move — But They Knew Better

Everyone Wanted the Detroit Pistons to Make a Move — But They Knew Better

We go back one year ago after a season full of doom, despair, and disappointment for the Detroit Pistons. It felt like they were going to be at the bottom of that rebuilding process for a long time until we got to the NBA season that just ended. And the Detroit Pistons, well, I can’t even say until we got to that season cuz it took a little it took a little while for them to find that stride. about the time of January when the new year uh when the new year calendar flipped when we went from 2024 to 2025, the Detroit Pistons started to play their best basketball of the season. From January to the end of the season, they became one of the best teams um in all of the NBA record rides. And from that point, from January to the end of the season, they were the best defensive team in the NBA while also for the entirety of the season being one of the best rebounding teams of the NBA. So from after a season of all that turmoil, I’m not going to say all the terrible things that happened that season because we got enough of it. But after that season, the Detroit Pistons were able to go into the following year and do so and skip so many of them steps in that rebuilding process. We seen the Detroit Pistons um build an identity. What we just talked about in those stats, them being able to be one of the top defensive rated teams in the NBA and one of the top um rebounding rated teams in all of the NBA. And that just goes throughout all the Detroit Pistons teams um in the organization history that has been successful. They’ve been outstanding defensive teams. They’ve been physical. Um they’ve been great rebounding teams and they also were very team oriented. And that’s what we saw with the Detroit Pistons. We saw them establish we saw them establish an an identity last season and we also seen them um accomplish that part in the rebuilding phase where you become more competitive. And not did they only become more competitive, but they became extremely more competitive, tripling their win total from the last season, the only team in NBA history to ever do that. And also getting to the NBA playoffs when no one thought they would. And they didn’t have to do it via the playin tournament. They got in as a six seed and they put up a really good fight against the New York Knicks to where the point where it looked like if they handled business or if they made one or two plays differently in a couple of those games, they would have made it to the second round of the NBA playoffs. So, it was a big- time season for the Detroit Pistons. And we all know what happens when you have a big time season. When you have a big time season, everybody wants you to capitalize on that. They want you to come back and they want to try to make they want you to try to make that team as much better as possible. And some people think the best way of doing that and the best way of going about that. Um, and this just this just isn’t in the game of basketball, but this is just an all in sports in general. People always want their team to go out and bring in another star or another superstar to to put on the organization to try to get us closer to winning that NBA championship. But in the case of the Detroit Pistons, I think it’s a little bit soon to be talking about bringing in another star or trading for another superstar because we really just this team is just really getting started. And like I like you know all that stuff we just said like we they just skipped a um they’re still a super duper young team but they just accomplished so much and they just got so much better in one season and they got all these young pieces. I think it I think the Detroit Pistons, all the signs, all the indicators are pointing them to keep building on that type of momentum because not only did we really see them get better last season, but we still didn’t really get to see our Detroit Pistons at full strength. And we look at a guy like Thompson who missed a lot of time at the beginning of the season. And when the Detroit Pistons got him back and when he started playing starter minutes, that’s when the Detroit Pistons became one of the top rated um defenses in all of the NBA. So they were without Assart Thompson for a big time in the season. Um Kate Cunningham, he didn’t miss the the workloaded games that he usually does, but he missed some pivotal games down the stretch of the season dealing with that calf injury. Um we look at Jaden Ivy, and Jayen Ivy is a guy I’m going to take a little bit time um to talk about in depth here because I think he’s a huge part of what the Detroit Pistons um want to do in the future and what they’re going to do in the future. And I think a lot of people sleep on how good he is and how good he was playing this season. But we look at Jaden Ivy. Jaden Ivy, man, he had like a three, four week a month stretch where his production on the basketball court weekly, it was so gradual. You could see him getting so much more uh so much better, so much confident and so much more comfortable on the basketball court. Um um playing his minutes on the court with and without Kate Cunningham. He looked like he was starting to figure it out and we were seeing career highs all across the board. Career highs in points per game, careerh highs in field goal percentage and careerh highs and three-point field goal percentage as well. So, he was having a hell of a season and then he just had a a very freak like it wasn’t like an injury where oh, it might be something wrong with Jaden Ivy’s body or his body failed on him. It was a very freak nasty accident on the basketball court that broke his leg and um he missed about 50% of this NBA season, but he was playing the best basketball. Um he he was playing the best basketball of his very very young NBA career, but I think we saw so much u I think we saw so much from Jayen Ivy that should have us excited going forward. He was the you know he was the fifth overall pick in the 2022 NBA draft. So he is a lottery talent. We look at Jayen Ivy’s skill set. He has a skill that you really can’t teach and that’s elite athleticism, his ability to jump off the ground. His speed, his quickness, it is all topnotch. And then he’s a guard that can handle the ball and he’s best when he’s getting downhill and finishing around the rim. And it seems like he was really polishing up his mid-range game and his three-point shooting. So, I’m I’m looking really looking forward to Jaden Ivy coming back. I’m looking I’m really looking forward to Jayen Ivy coming back next season and being healthy for the Detroit Pistons. So we can see more of that back court of K Cunningham and Jaden Ivy. So we had Jaden Ivy who didn’t really get to play too much last season and we definitely didn’t have him in the playoffs. Looking at more players in this very young nucleus for the Detroit Pistons that played pivotal roles in that bounceback season last year. You look at a guy like Jaylen Duran and Jaylen Duran was a guy who kind of struggled at the beginning of the season. He struggled with his consistency um really on the defensive side of the ball. really solid rebounding all season. Um Jaylen Jaylen Dur, we can’t expect too much out of him yet. You know what I’m saying? He can’t develop more on the offensive side of the ball, but right now he’s really a he’s really a live threat. A live threat in that twoman game for Jayen Ivy and K Cunningham. So, you know, his scoring, you know, the scoring output, we’re not expecting too much from him there. I think he scored the ball um really well for what his off for what his offensive skill set is. But nonetheless, it was a great season for Jaylen Duran. um he struggled a little bit against guarding the stretch the guarding the stretch bigs last season. So maybe that’s something he can work on. You know, that pick and pop, that pick and roll basketball IQ cuz he definitely has the athleticism. He has the speed to guard out there. I think it’s just more about him getting more experience and um getting a little bit more brain smart on the defensive side of the ball. So, I love what we have at the center pos uh center position with Jaylen Dur. And he’s also he also has some athleticism that you can’t teach. And obviously you look at the way his body is built, he has some great genetics. Um, some great genetics as well. So they have Jaylen Darren. Um, those were, you know, those were the guys that really got things popping for the Detroit Pistons last season. Of course, I can’t say that without the the offseason that the Detroit Pistons had. They kind of had the same offseason that they had this year that they had last year. Just getting more role players, more perimeter players to try to put around these core of outside players. Last year we saw them add um, Malik Beasley. We saw them add Tobias Harris. We saw them add Tim Hardaway Jr. Now I think um next next season we’re definitely going to be without Tim Hardaway Jr. Um and um and and we’re going to be without Malik Beasley as well. We all know his situation with the gambling that Fan Duel, you know, it do it do it’s a dark world, man. Fan duel is a dark world. But nonetheless, um, looking at what the Detroit Pistons did this off season, um, bringing in, um, Duncan Robinson to replace Malik Beasley, another guy, he probably not going to hit, you know, 400, 300 three-pointers like Malik Malik Beasley did for the Detroit Pistons, but he’s going to have that same impact out there on the basketball court. Guys are not going to let him shoot the ball. And they also bring in Caris Levert, another veteran point guard that has helped, you know, younger teams get to the NBA playoffs. um being a scoring punch off the bench, he can create his own shot in the pick and roll. Probably at his best getting downhill, finishing around the rim. So, the Detroit Pistons, I like the roster. It is um it’s shape it’s shaping up really well. I can’t forget about Ryan Holland. Ryan Holland was a guy that, you know, he didn’t get much opportunity last season with the Pistons, but when he did get his opportunity, he played really well. He played really hard. He stuck up for his guys. He looked really good in the summer league. So, I’m liking the way that um things are shaping up for the D Pistons. And I can’t for I really can’t forget Kate Cunningham, man. He’s become my favorite player in the NBA for a long time. LeBron James, he was my favorite player, man. But Kate Cunningham, the way he’s came to the Detroit Pistons, the way he’s embraced the challenge of getting the Detroit Pistons um back into postseason contention and the way it really seems like he wants to be a leader and um lead the team, lead the city to something great. I can’t help but to call him my favorite player when he’s playing right here um in the city. But I think K Cunningham, you guys know how I feel about him, bro. He’s going to be so damn good. And he had a terrific season last year, putting up 26 plus points per game, putting up eight um putting up more than nine assists per game, and also averaging more than six boards per game. So, it was a monstrous season for K Cunningham. Allstar honors, all NBA honors. Um like we really predicted, as soon as I swear, you can go look at all my pests video. He said as soon as K Cunningham get the right veteran to help around him, the right veteran to help around his other young um his other young running mates, he’s going to put up some godly numbers. So, that’s what we seen from him last season. Like I said, big time season for the Detroit Pistons, but it’s no time to rush when you have this young nucleus and you really still don’t know what they’re capable of cuz they’re still so young and they’re still growing. So, that’s what I want to talk about with you guys today. If you enjoyed, please leave a like. Comment down below if you agree or disagree. Then subscribe. Subscribe for more weekly content. We do this all the time, man. And that’s curtains.

Everyone thought the Pistons were supposed to swing big this offseason — chase a star, make a blockbuster, go all in. But Detroit stood firm. After the worst season in NBA history, they bounced back with 44 wins, a playoff berth, and didn’t panic when the media said they should.

This video breaks down the bigger picture:
– Why the Pistons didn’t need to force a trade
– What people forgot about Jaden Ivey
– The hidden value of patience with a young core
– And how the East being wide open plays into it all

Let me know in the comments if you believe in the Pistons’ long-term vision.

#Pistons #NBA #CadeCunningham #DetroitBasketball