The Detroit Pistons Are Putting The Basketball World On NOTICE

The Detroit Pistons Are Putting The Basketball World On NOTICE

All right, so one of the greatest franchise turnarounds in NBA history continues as the Pistons are doing an amazing job at following up their great 2025 season with a hot start to this season. As things stand, they are number one in the Eastern Conference and also are winners of five consecutive games. This is so refreshing to see because I remember how bad they were the season before last. They had this historically bad losing streak. So to see them be a really good team out east at this point, it is amazing and a ton of credit needs to go to this coaching staff and the players for their internal development. I’ll start with coaching. Uh JB Bickerstaff is one of the most underrated coaches in the entire league and is one of the best when it comes to getting a lot out of these young teams and these young cores. He has done that not only once but twice in his career here so far. going back to his time with Cleveland, he joined that team in 2019, right after the end of the LeBron James era and was able to help set the table for that group being a playoff threat in the Eastern Conference and helped them make the playin tournament in the 2022 season. And we are seeing him do just that here with the Pistons, coming in picking up the pieces after a historically bad season and getting them to a point where they are really solid out east. So, I want to dive into some numbers and talk about why this Pistons team has been so good early on in the year. Disclaimer, it is not because of their offense. Now, they have not been bad offensively, nor have they been really good. They’re around 15th in the league in offensive rating, which is smack dab in the middle. So, they literally are a mediocre offensive group, but they have primarily been getting it done with a dominant defensive attack. Right now they are number two in defensive rating, number two in opponent’s field goal percentage, sixth in opponent’s turnovers, elite right now in defending the fast break, ranking fifth in opponent’s fast break points. Here’s my favorite. They are currently ranking number two in opponent’s points in the paint, allowing just 39.8. And they are also one of the league’s best teams in blocks per game. A lot of that speaks to the amazing play of their front court of Isaiah Stewart and Jaylen Duran. They have been holding it down and have been the biggest reason as to why this team’s interior defense has been so elite. I want to focus specifically on Jaylen Duran as he has made massive strides not only on offense but as I said on the defensive side of the floor as well. He has grown in a big way as this amazing offball and interior defender. He literally is one of the NBA’s best right now when it comes to defending in the paint and in the restricted area. In my opinion, he is making a strong case early on and it’s early but he is making a very strong case for all defensive team which is going to be huge for this team to have multiple players who are elite level defenders across different positions. As I said, he has also made massive leaps from an offensive standpoint. Last season he was around 11.8 points per game and this year he is up to 19 points alongside with 11 rebounds. He is like this classic sort of big man. Doesn’t do a lot from a perimeter standpoint. isn’t amazing in the low post, but a really good rim runner, dominant in the pick and roll, one of the best athletes in the entire league, and as I said, has made massive strides and improvements as an interior defender. And he is one of those guys that has broken down this assumption that you need a jump shot to be great in the NBA today as a big man. That was a thing that people commonly said in the draft over the last couple of seasons. But again, he is one of those guys that is breaking that monotony and dominating the way in a classic way from the big man position. I’ve said this about guys like Giannis and Aman Thompson and a few other players across the NBA. You have to know how to play to your strengths. If you can dominate in your role and play to what you do well, you are going to be just fine and be a massive benefit to your team. And Jaylen Duran is another example of that. Again, not a great jump shooter, not the most advanced and skilled big man on offense, but knows how to play to his strengths. And that is why he’s gotten off to this amazing almost all-starike start early on here in the year. And we cannot talk about the Pistons without talking about Mr. Kade Cunningham, who was once again playing at an allstar and all NBA level. We all knew Cade was this sort of player, right? We all knew Kade had potential to be one of the five best point guards in the entire league. He has size. He’s smooth. has a great handle, sneaky, athletic, very smart, underrated passer as well. We all knew he had this skill set that could allow him to be one of the best point guards in the entire league. It was a matter of team performance. So to see the team’s performance finally catch up here, it really illuminates how dominant he is as an individual player and we are seeing it here on the court over the last couple of seasons. He is going to be in that conversation very, very soon as a top 10 player in the NBA. Trust me on that. And I just love him and Jaylen Duran’s chemistry in the pick and roll. It gives me some similar vibes to like Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan. Not exactly the same, but it gives me those sorts of vibes when I watch them. Just a really good insync tandem from a big man and a point guard. They are so tough to guard when they’re able to get into those high pick and roll scenarios either at the top of the key or at the elbow. And I did mention earlier about their mediocrity on the offensive end. As I said, they’re not bad, but they’re also not great. To be fair, this is something you have to take into account. They are without Jay Nivey and they have been without Tobias Harris for the last couple of games. So, once those guys are back and healthy, that is a massive plus on the offensive end. By massive, I mean massive. Those were two guys who can go around 18 points per game. That should allow them to have a big-time boost offensively and turn into an elite level two-way team. All in all, we need to know that the Pistons are real, right? This wasn’t some fluke that we saw last season. They are able to continue that success into this year with an unhealthy roster. Again, great stuff from Kate Cunningham and also Jaylen Duran and Isaiah Stewart. They have seen some improvement also from Ron Holland who is a secondyear player. Just a really good followup to a successful previous season. The upside for this team is huge. If they’re able to again match that dominant defense with great offense, I think they can make a lot happen in the Eastern Conference and be a lot more than just a first round exit. I do think this team has Eastern Conference Finals level upside, especially when healthy.

The Pistons are off to a red hot start to the season, ranking No. 1 in the Eastern Conference and they are currently riding a five- game winning streak. Here’s how they’re doing it

Time Stamps:

0:00 Intro
0:30 Coaching
2:10 Film/ Jalen Duren’s Growth
4:00 Film/ Cade Cunningham Continues To Impress

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