The Pistons are a LOT Better Than You Think

The Pistons are a LOT Better Than You Think

Yo, what’s going on y’all? It’s Con and we might have a new juggernaut emerging in the Eastern Conference and that team is the Detroit Pistons. They’ve looked amazing to start this season. They’re 8-2, top of the Eastern Conference. And I just can’t wrap my head around this meteoric rise that they’ve had. Two years ago, they were the laughing stock of the NBA. And honestly, that’s an understatement. They had 14 wins. They had one of the longest losing streaks in sports history. Wingstop physically couldn’t give away wings because the Pistons would not win a single basketball game. People are saying that Monty Williams was a double agent, which honestly I still kind of believe at this point. Kate Cunningham, there are questions of is he the guy? Should they rebuild the rebuild that they’re going through? Did they make the wrong decisions? There was a lot going on over there in Detroit. But in the two years since, they’ve rapidly improved to one of the brightest futures in the league. Last year, they give the Knicks a really good first round playoff series, and now they’re on top of the Eastern Conference with their best start in 20 years since 2005. They’ve not been this good through 10 games. It’s very, very impressive. Outside of one game against the Cavaliers where they looked very pedestrian, they’ve been competitive or just flatout better in every single game so far this season. I’ve been impressed. And I was someone who wasn’t like on either side of the Pistons debate. Some people thought they could be way better this season. Others thought that some of the moving parts and potential stagnation could lead to them uh slipping a little bit or just staying about the same. I thought they were in for slight improvement. I had them as the fifth seed, but did feel like there was a world where guys really popped off and they looked a lot better. Turns out it’s this world because right now, specifically Kade Cunningham and Jaylen Duran, and we could even throw a Sar Thompson in there, have all been unbelievable. You kind of know the drill with Kate Cunningham every single night. I feel like tonight against the Sixers is a great example. 26 points, 11 assists, and just giving you clutch buckets left and right. Kate Cunningham has been easily one of the best fourth quarter performers in the entire league so far. today. He had seven points, two assists on three or four shooting, including the shot that ultimately gave the Pistons uh kind of the dagger in this win over the Philadelphia 76ers to move to 8-2. And on the season, they’ve got the second best net rating in fourth quarters in the league, only behind the Philadelphia 76ers. And that’s in large part because of Kate Cunningham, who’s improved and is playing probably the best two-way basketball of his career right now. The numbers efficiency-wise are still down a bit because he had a really slow start to the season. Uh, but as of late, I mean, if it’s not a 30point double double with assists, it’s kind of a slow day at the office for Kade. Like I said, 26-1 against the Sixers tonight, 34-10 against the Nets, 31-10 against the Jazz, 33-8 against the Grizzlies, 21-8 against the Mavericks, 30-10 against the Magic. Kade has just been doing this. This is what he does. He’s going to give you 10 dimes. He’s going to be an elite passer, an elite playmaker. He’s going to score, but specifically turn up the dial to 11 when it gets the fourth quarter. and will the Pistons victory. He is an allNBA level player just like he was last year, but I think he’s gotten better. He’s more in control. He’s built more chemistry with his teammates. And I do believe as some of that efficiency levels out, he will be putting up easily the best numbers of his career when this season goes ahead and wraps. And regardless of what the numbers say, this is the best version of Kate Cunningham that we have seen. And this is a guy that I feel very confident can lead the Pistons on a potential deep playoff run this year. Like as soon as right now when I’m talking about the Pistons emerging in this Eastern Conference, I’m not just saying that they could be really good over the next couple years and maybe make a finals. I’m saying as soon as this year. I think there’s a world where this is an Eastern Conference Finals team. Maybe not making the finals, maybe they lose round two, but making round two, I think, is a very realistic expectation for this Pistons team and even beyond depending on how they look like when Jay Nivey comes back. Because one of the big weaknesses with this team right now is that they don’t have a big-time secondary guard creator. Last year, Dennis Shruder did some of that, a little bit from Malik Beasley. Uh, but Jay Nivey is kind of supposed to be that guy, and he’s not played at all so far yet this season. So, when Jay Nivey comes back and they have him as well, who was having the best season of his career by far last year, that’s going to bring this offense up a bunch because so far, as good as they’ve looked at times on that end, they’re only ranked, I think, like 18th. Now, over the last five games, they’ve been 11th. So, they are improving. They’re getting better. But, I think they need another guy to initiate offense in the half court because it can get really ugly and clunky at times. But that’s where having a guy like Kate Cunningham comes in who can create offense out of thin air. Whether it’s by pass or by shot, doesn’t matter. Kade is just a walking elite offensive engine anytime he’s out there on the court. But he is supported in a big way by Jaylen Duran who is has to be in the most improved player conversations to start the season because he’s kind of putting up like shack stat lines on a nightly basis. Tonight had 21-6, 30-11 against the Nets, 22-2 against the Jazz, 33-10 against the Mavericks, 21-3 against the Magic, 24-8 against the Celtics. He’s giving them 19 and a half and 12 boards with over a block per game on 65% shooting every single night in under 28 minutes. Do you know how many guys are averaging less than 30 minutes and giving you a double double this season? It’s him and Zubots. And Zoo is averaging like four points less than Duran and less rebounds. He is rapidly evolving before our eyes. He has been a lot better this year as a defensive big. Like he’s been a legitimate great rim protector for a top three defense in the sport. He has become way better offensively. There are a lot of times in all the Pistons games where he’s just facing up and taking opposing bigs off the dribble. That’s not something Duran was doing super often over the first three years of his career, but he’s made it a point now and it’s made them a lot more deadly and it’s made him a lot more effective. He’s getting to the free throw line. It’s something that’s going to pay a ton of dividends when you get to the playoffs and teams are setting doubles or traps at Kate Cunningham and he swings the ball over. They’ve got a zone and you get Jaylen Duran the ball in the middle and suddenly he’s able to break down an opposing big off of a face up and of course he’s just one of the best rebounders in the league. So left and right he’s given you extra opportunities. Uh Duran is an allstar so far this season. If he keeps playing like this he is a lock to be an all-star in this Eastern Conference and I think he’s going to get there and that is such a massive plus to have two all-star level players in all NBA one and Kate Cunningham at your guard in your big spot because that synergy is so important in this league. And you see it when they play off of each other, whether it’s Duran setting a screen for Kade to get downhill and throw him a lob or for Kade to get downhill and then finish at the rim. Like those two potential options, plus the threat of Kade being the elite playmaker that he is, just makes it such a a nightmare to try and cover the Pistons, especially when their shooters are hitting. And shout out to like Duncan Robinson who’s been really good. He’s not the volume shooter that Malik Beasley was, but he’s shooting 40% from three. Carris Levert is also shooting 40% from three. Jay Navy last year before injury was shooting 40% from three. If he can be back even somewhat similar to that, that is a terrifying thought. Tobias Harris has not played much as of late and he didn’t start off the season the most efficient but last year was a consistent weapon for them. So when he gets back, that’s going to be another big plus. Maybe there’s even a world where Malik Beasley gets clear to the investigation and he comes back and adds a massive shooting punch to this team on a minimum contract because I think that’s the way it’s going to go if he gets cleared at some point this season. There is just a lot to like here about this Piston squad. And that’s without even mentioning a Sar Thompson who has some of the highest upside on the entire roster. He is only 22 years old and he’s already one of the best defenders in all of basketball. If he’s not getting you like two to three steals and a block, like at least two to three stocks a night, you’re kind of surprised. Uh he is consistently put on the opposing team’s best player and gives them absolute hell. He’s insanely quick laterally. He’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen. uh he can dunk on you. He has ridiculously good timing on his cuts. And that’s so good to have next to a guy like Cade who knows where everybody’s going to go, where he’s going to be. And those guys have developed so much chemistry. As far as more comfortable attacking just on his own on ball right now, the three-point shot still not very good, but it’s improving up from 22% last year to 30.8%. Uh Assar is a monster. He is easily one of the best players on this team and he’s part of the big three. It is Kade, it is Assar, and it is Jaylen Duran. And Kade and Assar are both allstars. And I think Assar Thompson is going to get there sooner than later. Those three guys as your core building blocks going forward, a guard, a big, and a wing, who are all hyper talented. And I really like the fit of together. It’s got to be scary for the rest of the NBA. And keep in mind how young these guys are. Jaylen Durren turns only 22 years old and he’s averaging a 20point double double in eight days. Assar Thompson is only 22. K just turned 24 years old. These guys are going to be together for years and rapidly improve. You’re already seeing how much chemistry they’ve built. As you get more talent around them, JB Bicker staff, I like them a lot as this head coach. The Pistons are good. They’re an elite defensive team that still has so much room to grow and get better offensively as they get Jay Na’vi back in the lineup. As you know, they get more chemistry like Caris Levert and Duncan Robinson. If Malik Beasley comes back, they’ve got the assets to make a move around the deadline if they want to. And I think they should really consider it if someone that can bring in an offensive punch can because in this Eastern Conference with the way they’re playing, again, I don’t think a deep run is at all out of the realm of possibility for this Pistons team. If you told me they’re in the conference finals at the end of this season, I’m not really shocked. If you say NBA Finals, probably a little bit just because they’re really young. But I think they’ve got that type of upside for at least the second round, if not the conference finals, if everything can click the way that I can because also defensively like Isaiah Stewart has also continued to improve and he’s one of the better rim protectors in basketball at this point. Like there is just so much defensive talent for this team. If the offense just gets like a tick better, it’s just it’s such a problem for everybody in the Eastern Conference, for everybody in the NBA as a whole. And to think that they’ve been playing good basketball, but I think there’s still a lot better that they can bring to the table and they’re eight and two is a testament to how good this basketball team is. And I love to see I love when that young squad takes the jump from like, hey, they’re kind of fun to, oh my god, this is actually like terrifying. Like why are they so good already? That is the Detroit Pistons. Well, kind of because they did suck for a long time. But in terms of going from like the bottom to the top, nobody saw it coming this fast. And maybe there was a little bit of regression. You know, maybe they don’t end up as the one seat but like a two, three, or four. But if that even is the case, that is a big accomplishment for this young team. And yeah, I think there’s a world where they do kind of take the OKC jump a little bit this season and they do end up as like the top seed in the Eastern Conference just because they’ve got this group of young guys that are hungry. They’re led by an allNBA, maybe even MVP candidate this season in Kate Cunningham if the Pistons are in contention for the one seed. It’s not at all the realm of possibility. This is such a good team. They’ve got so much depth, really good coaching. They fit well together. It’s a great squad. I love watching the Pistons play and I’m happy to see them back because there haven’t been a lot of times in my lifetime where the Pistons have been good at basketball and when they were really good at basketball the last time I was less than 5 years old. So, it’s nice to see a good Pistons team again, but this is a a juggernaut on the rise. This is a rapidly ascending sleeping giant. If you’re a fan of a team in the Eastern Conference, you should be at least a little bit worried about the Detroit Pistons. Um, but yeah, those are my thoughts on them. Let me know down below in the comments how you feel about this squad and what they’ve been doing so far this season. Let’s go ahead and move on now like usual to the rest of the games in the NBA. Not a lot to talk about cuz there were kind of a lot of blowouts tonight. The Rockets did win a close one against the Milwaukee Bucks 122 to 115. It looked like the Bucks kind of had this one somewhat handled and then Houston turned it up late and it was Kevin Durant with 31. It was Shen with 2311 and 7 and closing the book 14853 and one from Almond Thompson. Reed Shepard 16 with four threes. They were big as they made that comeback. Uh this is a big win for the Rockets because I saw a lot of Rockets fans saying like this feels like a game we should win. Like it’s right there for us. And they ultimately took over late and got the job done because of their offense which you continue uh to love to see for the Bucks. Like it was a really good Giannis game 378 and three. But I he was so bad down the stretch. He missed so many free throws, multiple defensive possessions where he’s just doing everything in his power to try and get the steal. Not at all just trying to play straight up defense and it cost them. Like I think he could have just played straight up and they would have had a better chance at winning. Ryan Rollins gave them another great game with 19 points on seven of 12 shooting. A decent game from like Kyle Kuzma, Cole Anthony, Bobby Poris was perfect from the field. Uh but the Rockets just they outscored him. Like the Rockets just out firepowered them and Houston has looked really good so far to start the season. A Rockets video probably will come at some point soon. The Orlando Magic lose again to the Boston Celtics. They had a chance to get to 500. They couldn’t do it 111 to 107. 27 from Jaylen Brown, 21 from Derek White, 25 from Anthony Simons, 16 almost perfect shooting from Luca Garza. What happened to the defense that the Orlando Magic had? They just can’t seem to stop almost anybody. And the offense, this game was terrible. Seven of 30 from three. Why is Desmond Bane shooting one three-point attempt in a game? The whole reason you brought him in was to be that three-point shooter. There is no reason he should shoot one. Wendell Carter should have six. Anthony Black should have four. It should never be the spread of things. And Paulo should have five. Speaking of Powell, he did have 28 points but kept turning the ball over. Fron at 20 on five of 17 shooting. The Magic I just can’t wrap my head around how disappointing they’ve been. They are definitely due for a video and not in a good way. Uh the Thunder were down big to the Grizzlies by 19 in the first half and then ended up winning by 14 points. 114 to 100. A lot of that was Shay who went on a personal 90 run in the fourth quarter. In the third quarter turned up like in the first half Sheay finished I have to find the exact numbers here with 13 points on five of 14 shooting. What would you guess his efficiency ended up being? Because he ended up shooting exactly 50% with 357 and six uh in two steals. It’s kind of just what Chay does. It doesn’t matter how he starts. Uh he’s always going to find some way back to right about 50% shooting and 35 points. Uh Chad Homegr, Isaiah Hardenstein, the double big connection has rapidly improved. IHeart is playing like the best basketball of his career right now. 18 and 13, 21 and seven from Chad. Isaiah Joe hit some timely threes to kind of get the thunder rolling. Just couldn’t buy a three. were 10 of 43 and still managed to win by double digits while the Grizzlies were 17 of 44 like they could not miss in the first half. Second half those three-point shots went dry. They started to turn the ball over. The offense got really stagnant. Uh John Moran’s just been terrible to start this season. Nowhere near what he should be. 11 points, eight assists, three of 18 shooting. Uh was just abysmal. And he’s he’s against this elite defense, but this has become kind of the John Moran experience. It just feels like he’s regressed or stagnated. He’s not taken the next step really, you know, elevated behind this Tumas Elo offense like we thought he could. Uh Cedric Howard had a double double. He was really good especially to start the game. Yeah, I don’t have a lot to say about the way the Grizzlies played. They just kind of rolled over and died late in this one. The Knicks annihilate the Nets 134 to 98. We don’t need to talk about that one too much, but the Knicks have looked really good. Have loved the ball movement from them. 28-12 from Cat led the way. Uh we had the Warriors annihilating the Indiana Pacers 114 to 83. The Pacers are now one and nine. They are absolutely going for one of those top picks in this gap year, which I think is ultimately the right move. I predicted them to be a bit higher because I didn’t know if they were going to, but it turns out they’re going all for it, which is what they should do. Obviously, guys like Benedict Mathan and Pascal Seakum and Andrew Nemhard, who did come back in this game, but he’s been hurt. They’ve had injuries left and right to basically everybody, and I’m sure, you know, they’re they’re okay to rest some guys here and there. Aaron Nith also did not play in this game. Uh, who was even their top performer? I guess I’d say it was Jay Huff at 12 and 11. Good lord. And for the Warriors, uh I want to give a shout out to Will Richard who had 15 points and has been so good for them so far this season. He’s been like better than like Brandon PMsky who was, you know, kind of the guy people thought could take a step this season. No Steph Curry in this game. Jimmy Butler finishes 21 and 10 to 15 shooting. Yeah, I mean the Pacers got in LA. We don’t need to talk about that one too much. And finally, another blowout. The Minnesota Timberwolves run the Kings out of the building. You get 26 from Anthony Edwards, 19 and 12 from Rudy Goar, 19 from Julius Randle, and 50% shooting. The Kings cannot stop anything. Giving up 144 points is absolutely ridiculous. Can we talk about Keon Ellis can’t get minutes? One of their best defenders, one of their better offensive players, more efficient players. Playing 12 minutes in a game where you literally cannot buy a stop to the point where Kings fans are chanting, “We want Keon Ellis in the crowd.” Like, why does he continue to just not get playtime? I genuinely don’t understand it. Lavine I guess at 26 points, 20 from Sabonis, although it was five of 17 shooting, 22 from Demar Rosen. Uh the Kings are an utter and complete nightmare. And the sooner they blow this up, the sooner that basketball fans around the world could be happier. But yeah, those are my thoughts on the NBA games from today. Let me know down below in the comments what your takeaways were, how you feel about this Detroit Pistons squad as currently constructed. How far could they go in the Eastern Conference? What is the upside of this core? Do you think it’s championship level? Do you think they need another piece? Is Jay Nivey maybe that missing piece? Uh, and yeah, if you think they should make a trade, who kind of out there should be a trade target for them around the deadline? But I appreciate all watching. Again, leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed. Hit the notification bell so you don’t miss any future videos. I appreciate you all watching. I’ll see y’all later. Everyone say back.

The Detroit Pistons are at the top of the NBA’s Eastern Conference to start the season and may be a new powerhouse emerging. Cade Cunningham is playing at an MVP level, Jalen Duren is a bonafide All Star right now, Ausar Thompson is a swiss army knife, and Jaden Ivey hasn’t even played yet. The East is open with teams like the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers out of the way, but the Detroit Pistons may have the capability to compete with the Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks for a conference finals spot this year, nevermind in the next few seasons as a team with an extremely bright future.

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0:00 – Intro
0:20 – The Pistons are on a rapid rise
1:36 – Cade Cunningham is an MVP candidate
4:30 – Jalen Duren is taking the leap
7:14 – Ausar Thompson is a monster
8:21 – And this is only the beginning
11:19 – The rest of the NBA
16:22 – Outro