The 2024-25 NBA season is here! We’re breaking down the biggest questions, best- and worst-case scenarios, and fantasy outlooks for all 30 teams. Enjoy!
DETROIT PISTONS
2023-24 finish
Offseason moves
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Additions: Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley, Paul Reed, Ron Holland, Wendell Moore Jr., Bobi Klintman
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Subtractions: Quentin Grimes, James Wiseman, Evan Fournier, Troy Brown Jr., Malachi Flynn, Stanley Umude, Taj Gibson, Chimezie Metu
The Big Question: Is Cade Cunningham worth building around?
We are three years into former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham’s career, and we are no closer to answering the question: Is he a foundational star? He has shown glimpses of greatness. He finished third behind Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley in 2022 Rookie of the Year voting. He returned from a shin injury, which cost him all but 12 games of his sophomore campaign, to average a 23-4-8 per game last season.
It was encouraging to see Cunningham play as hard as he did last season, even as his Detroit Pistons lost an NBA-record 28 consecutive games and finished with a bottom-five record for the fifth straight season.
Those finishes yielded a string of lottery picks, including Cunningham. Killian Hayes was a bust. Jaden Ivey might be good, though the previous head coach did not believe in him. Ausar Thompson shot 18.6% from deep last season. Ron Holland was considered a reach as the No. 5 overall pick in this year’s draft.
In theory, Ivey, Thompson and Holland should complement Cunningham. They are a collection of electric athleticism. Ivey could be an explosive secondary creator as Cunningham’s backcourt partner. Holland might be a bucket-getter on the wing, where Thompson has been willing to do anything else. Jalen Duren, the No. 13 overall pick in 2022, has shown as much promise at center as any of them at their positions.
In practice, none of them are ready to push the organization forward. So the Pistons added Tobias Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley over the summer. They are not the bones of a great team, but they should be good enough to definitively answer this question: Can Cunningham elevate their level of play?
Harris, Hardaway and Beasley have all enjoyed productive seasons in the space created by superstars. They are capable NBA players, something that was in short order for Detroit last season. At least when Cunningham drives into traffic he can trust that someone is capable of making a shot on his kick-out.
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Cunningham has all the tools. He is a 6-foot-6, 220-pound point guard. He has the vision and the size to create against any defense. He shot 40% from distance in college. And he plays with the deliberate pace of a high-usage superstar. He just has not been an efficient offensive hub. But he has always had excuses. Nobody expected him to elevate the hodgepodge of prospects the front office put around him.
Those excuses are gone. No one thinks he will turn this group into a playoff threat, either, but can Cunningham promote some level of competency with this offense? Can he meet Harris, Hardaway and Beasley at a baseline of mediocrity? Can he give the front office reason to believe that — if there is greatness in Ivey, Thompson and Holland — Cunningham will expedite it and meet them at their level?
The Pistons might as well find out now, since Cunningham’s $224 million max contract comes due in July.
Best-case scenario
The Pistons are in a catch-22. They owe a top-13 protected pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves. This pick’s protections began in 2021; they will remain until a) Detroit is not terrible or b) 2027. But the Pistons have been so bad for so long that they cannot possibly endure three more years of this, right? Imagine if the No. 1 pick spends the entirety of his rookie contract on a team bound for nowhere. The Pistons have to be better, collectively, and that starts with Cunningham. On the bright side, they can show some progress, still finish with a bottom-13 record and keep the pick, but at least they will have showed us something.
If everything falls apart
Cunningham is not the answer. Neither are Ivey, Thompson or Holland. The Pistons emerge from five seasons at the bottom of the standings to the same hellscape they were in before, when they spent a handful of top-10 picks on Greg Monroe, Brandon Knight, Andre Drummond, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Stanley Johnson, only to top out as an eighth seed that could not win a playoff game. Rinse, repeat.
Fantasy spin
Cunningham is one of my favorite picks in the third round this season. If his preseason is any indication of what to expect, fantasy managers are in for a productive year from the fourth-year guard. Cunningham is averaging 14.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 7.5 assists with just two turnovers in 24 minutes this preseason. The stocks and 3s will come, but it’s time to board the motorCade.
Duren is a big man to target in the fifth round of drafts. He is one of four players in NBA history to average at least 13 points and 11 rebounds per game before turning 21. He’ll finish among the leaders in double-doubles and a bump in stocks will push him inside the top 50 in fantasy this year. Harris continues to be a boring pick but remains consistent in fantasy. He finished in the top 65 in 10 consecutive seasons, yet his ADP is 67 — underrated as usual.
Thompson (illness) hasn’t been cleared for contact yet, while Ivey put together one of the best preseasons in the league. That efficiency won’t hold, but he’s certainly worth a late-round flier with a modest ADP of 133. — Dan Titus
2024-25 schedule
Take the under. It’s the Pistons.
