{"id":705002,"date":"2026-04-08T10:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705002\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T10:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T10:15:14","slug":"the-kevin-huerter-the-pistons-have-been-begging-for-is-finally-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705002\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kevin Huerter the Pistons have been begging for is finally here"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5i\">The Detroit Pistons fanbase pleaded with their front office to make moves ahead of the NBA trade deadline, with the lack of shooting becoming an evident issue.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5l\">Team president Trajan Langdon<a href=\"https:\/\/pistonpowered.com\/detroit-pistons-fans-had-one-dream-trajan-langdon-something-else-mind\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> did his best <\/a>to address the concerns, and it came with a bit of a reclamation project in sharpshooting wing Kevin Huerter, who was in the midst of a career-low season with the Chicago Bulls.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5o\">The hope for the Maryland product was that a fresh start in the Motor City on a contending roster would allow him to turn back the clock to his best seasons with the Atlanta Hawks and Sacramento Kings, where he proved to be a reliable marksman when called upon.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5r\">His opening stretch with the Pistons didn&#8217;t offer much encouragement; in fact, it offered a sense of increased concern that Langdon missed the mark with his in-season additions.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5u\">Fast forward to now, and it seems as if Huerter is quietly finding his rhythm at the perfect time, giving Detroit the player they&#8217;ve desperately been waiting to show up.<\/p>\n<p>Kevin Huerter is starting to answer the call<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"60\">With the absence of Cade Cunningham, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has begun to look for answers to fill the offensive void left behind by the MVP candidate.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"63\">Of the bench options who have received extended looks, Huerter has begun to show shades of the spot-up shooter the team hoped to acquire when they decided to land him ahead of the deadline.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"66\">Still, only shooting 28.3% from beyond the arc in a Pistons jersey and 30.5% from three on the season, the 27-year-old hasn&#8217;t completely shaken free from the shooting funk that restricted him this season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"69\">Over the last few games, though, Huerter has started to string solid shooting performances, finishing with 2+ threes in five of the team&#8217;s last seven games.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6c\">Shooting 37.5% from three through three games in April, Huerter is beginning to turn a corner that could lead him to hear his number called when the postseason begins.<\/p>\n<p>Pistons will need Huerter&#8217;s shooting throughout the playoffs <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6i\">Obviously, Detroit&#8217;s calling card comes on the defensive end with the mindset of head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who&#8217;s one of the biggest reasons for the team&#8217;s emergence atop the East, courtesy of their gritty play on the defensive side of the court.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6l\">And while the Pistons will certainly pride themselves on defense when the playoffs arrive, there&#8217;s no doubt that Detroit will be seeking answers on the offensive end, even if Cunningham returns to the lineup.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6o\">If Huerter can continue shooting with confidence, his ability to be a trustworthy weapon on offense to protect the ball and make smart decisions, along with shooting upside, could carve him a role within the team&#8217;s playoff rotation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Pistons fanbase pleaded with their front office to make moves ahead of the NBA trade deadline,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3773],"tags":[7,296,188,3860,6,297],"class_list":{"0":"post-705002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-detroit-pistons","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-detroit","10":"tag-detroit-pistons","11":"tag-detroitpistons","12":"tag-nba","13":"tag-pistons"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116368567638722746","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}