The first date Pistons fans circled when the schedule dropped was obvious: December 2, when Isaiah Stewart comes back to Detroit with his new-look Grizzlies.
That one has juice for a few reasons. Stewart’s departure from the Pistons wasn’t explosive, but it also wasn’t handled with much ceremony.
Detroit moved on for cap space and 2nd-round picks, even though Stewart was the longest tenured player on the roster. He never came across as bitter in public, and he didn’t fire cheap shots at the organization, but the feeling is that the whole thing left a mark.
Even so, there’s no reason to expect a cold reception. Stewart was there through the ugly years, part of the group that helped drag the franchise out of decades of futility, and he should hear plenty of love from the crowd before things turn physical.
The expectation is simple: warm welcome, then a hard night.
That game is just one of several on the calendar that should get Detroit’s attention.
Another one comes November 24 in Orlando, where the Pistons will walk back into the building where the Magic coughed up a 3-1 series lead, including a 24-point lead in Game 6 on their home floor. It’s the first trip back to that arena since it happened, and the Magic will be eager to make sure their own fans feel better about it. That one should have some edge to it.
Then there’s December 22 in Oklahoma City, a real early-season measuring stick. It lands as the second game of a four-game road trip that begins in Boston, and it also starts a back-to-back that includes the Hawks. Against the class of the West, the Pistons will get a clear read on how they stack up.
On January 18, Detroit gets a national TV spotlight in Cleveland on MLK Day. That one matters for both sides.
The Pistons will be trying to show they’re ready to catch the veteran Cavaliers, while Cleveland will be trying to prove it’s not giving up any ground. With the trade deadline looming in the weeks ahead, the timing only adds to it.
And on February 3, the Pistons host the champs. There’s already some unfinished business there, since Detroit handled the Knicks in the regular season last year but never got the playoff meeting that felt like it was building toward the Eastern Conference Finals. The trade deadline sits right around the corner too, so that matchup should carry an extra layer of drama.
In Other News...
More Pistons Games Just Got Easier For Detroit Fans To Watch
The Pistons newly released schedule comes with a welcome wrinkle for fans around Michigan: far more of the games should be easy to find on TV. Detroit laid out its viewing options along with the slate for the upcoming season, and up to 68 games are set to air on free local broadcasts and NBC, a notable boost for anyone who has grown tired of chasing matchups across cable and streaming.
For the rest of the schedule, the usual mix of national and platform-specific coverage fills in the gaps, with games landing on ESPN, NBA League Pass, Amazon Prime and Peacock. The team also spelled out which dates will be nationally televised and which local stations will carry games in the Grand Rapids and Detroit markets, giving fans a clearer road map before the season gets going. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Are Still Cashing In On The Jerami Grant Trade
Detroit is still feeling the effects of the Jerami Grant trade years later, and not just in some abstract future-pick sense. The deal with Portland brought back the kind of draft capital that has helped reshape the roster, including the selection of Jalen Duren, as the Pistons turned a one-time veteran departure into a deeper, more promising core. It is the sort of transaction front offices hope works out in theory, and in this case it has already helped the franchise move beyond its postseason drought while giving the team more flexibility on both the floor and the ledger.
The latest dividend came in the 2026 draft, when the Pistons used another pick tied to that trade to add guard depth at a time when roster balance and finances both matter. Ebuka Okorie arrived as part of that continuing return, a reminder that the Grant deal keeps producing useful pieces even as Detroit works through ongoing contract negotiations with Duren. For a team trying to build something sustainable, the trade has become less about one player leaving and more about the steady stream of options it has created. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Face A Bigger Cade Cunningham Question Than Fans Wanted
The Pistons spent the summer trying to give Cade Cunningham more help by bringing in John Collins, but the bigger picture still points to a roster that needs another offensive push if it wants to climb in the Eastern Conference. Cunningham has become the focal point of everything Detroit does, and the front office now has to decide whether the current mix is enough or whether the trade deadline is the moment to add another real scoring threat around him.
Three names keep surfacing as possible answers in Norman Powell, Trey Murphy III and Tyler Herro, each offering a different kind of lift for a team that needs cleaner offense and more reliable perimeter production. None of those options comes cheaply, which is part of the dilemma for Detroit, but the Pistons are at the stage where standing still may be the riskier move if they want to turn Cunninghams growth into something more meaningful this season. [Read more 🡒]