The Pistons’ early surge has a lot of moving parts, but John Collins is already looking like one of the cleanest fits in Detroit.
At 5-1, the new-look Pistons have opened the season with real bite, and Collins has wasted little time carving out a major role after arriving in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers this summer. He has stepped into the starting power forward spot left open by Tobias Harris and brought a different kind of juice to the frontcourt - more bounce, more range, more ways to stress a defense.
That mix has mattered right away for J.B. Bickerstaff’s group.
Collins can stretch the floor, finish around the rim and hold his own on both ends, which has taken some of the load off Cade Cunningham. With Collins giving Detroit a scoring threat inside and out, the offense has looked more dynamic and more comfortable in transition, while the defense has stayed elite.
The Pistons are still carrying the NBA’s No. 1-ranked defense, allowing under 102 points per game, and they’re sitting near the top of the Eastern Conference.
Collins has backed up the eye test with production, too. He’s averaging approximately 15 points and 7.7 rebounds per game, and that kind of steady impact is exactly what Detroit’s front office was chasing when it built around its young core with experienced, versatile veterans.
The wrinkle now is that Jalen Duren is sidelined, which has pushed Collins into a bigger frontcourt load alongside Paul Reed. That shift changes the look of Detroit’s interior, but it could also open more room for the offense to breathe.
Spacing was always part of the plan. Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon made perimeter shooting a priority, and the numbers showed why: Detroit ranked 29th in three-point attempts. That kind of weakness can get exposed fast against tighter playoff defenses.
So the roster decisions carried some risk. Moving away from traditional, physical interior players such as Isaiah Stewart, and letting Harris walk, was a deliberate bet that spacing and versatility would matter more than brute force. Early on, that gamble is paying off.
Defenses can’t simply ignore the corners anymore, and that matters because those shooters are helping clear lanes for Cunningham, who has been playing at an MVP-calibre level. With Collins settling in, Cunningham driving the whole operation and the rest of the group starting to click, Detroit looks like a team that’s easy to underestimate and hard to handle.
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Detroit has also had chances to use lopsided games as a development runway, but Okorie has not really been part of that plan. For a young guard trying to carve out a role, those low-pressure minutes can matter, and the longer they stay out of reach, the more the team leaves a real growth question hanging over his season. [Read more 🡒]
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Pistons Suddenly Look Like A Real East Threat After Statement Win
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At 6-1, the early numbers are starting to match the eye test for a group that suddenly looks far more than just a nice story in the East. The bigger question now is whether Detroit can keep stacking nights like this against better competition, because the way it handled Charlotte suggested a team that expects to belong in the conversation. [Read more 🡒]