Two years into Trajan Langdon’s rebuild, the Detroit Pistons have learned how to win without making a lot of noise. That approach has carried them from 14 wins in 2023-24 to 60 this past season, a jump few around the league saw coming when the calendar flipped to last summer.
The surprise was real. A year ago, hardly anyone expected Detroit to wind up as the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed and land one win shy of the East finals so soon after the worst season in franchise history. But the playoff run also made the next step obvious: the second-round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in May showed where the roster still had work to do, especially on offense.
“We all want to get better,” Langdon said in June. “I can’t stand here and say we don’t want to get better, so getting better means you’ve gotta win the second round to get better.
It doesn’t necessarily mean we need to win 64 games, I don’t think we’re trying to do that, though if we do that would be fantastic. But I think we know that we need to be more equipped to compete in the postseason and that’s what we’re looking at doing.
“Like I already said, it’s adding pieces that help accentuate our three best players, our core three players, and I think that will help us in the regular season and post season as well. That all goes into the belief we feel like we can be better.”
With training camp about five weeks away, the Pistons’ summer moves point to two clear goals: add shooting and keep building out the bench with affordable contracts. That gives them more help over the grind of an 82-game season and keeps the door open if they ever decide to swing big and turn their “core three” of Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson into a quartet.
Detroit looked into bigger names, but the price was too steep for players like Kevin Durant or Kawhi Leonard. In a summer where stars have drifted from West to East, the Pistons stayed with their own formula: trust internal growth and make targeted additions.
This was not a quiet summer, though. Tobias Harris and Isaiah Stewart are gone, and John Collins and Isaiah Joe arrive as real upgrades. Both shot better than 40% from 3-point range last season, and both should help an offense that leaned too heavily on Duncan Robinson’s shooting.
The numbers back that up. Per Cleaning The Glass, Detroit scored 10.2 more points per 100 possessions with Robinson on the floor, the biggest individual bump on the team and a mark in the 98th percentile leaguewide. Cade Cunningham, at plus-7.3, and Duren, at plus-6.2, ranked second and third among Pistons.
Joe is a career 40.6% 3-point shooter. Collins has also become a dependable threat, hitting around 40% of his attempts from deep over the last two seasons. Taurean Prince and Gary Harris, both brought in from the Milwaukee Bucks in July, also shot above 40% last season.
That gives the coaching staff a chance to keep at least one Robinson-level shooter on the floor for all 48 minutes, which could change the shape of an offense that struggled to match the league’s best units from beyond the arc. Detroit finished 29th in 3-point attempts per game at 31.3 and tied for 20th in 3-point percentage at 35.7%.
Even with those issues, the Pistons still finished 10th in offensive rating at 118.3, between the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers, thanks to what they did in transition and around the rim. If the offense can take a step forward without the defense slipping from its top-five level, Detroit should be in better shape in a conference that has become even more star-heavy with Leonard’s (still-pending) trade to the Toronto Raptors and LeBron James’ arrival in Philadelphia.
The front office also managed to add help without emptying the cupboard. Detroit kept all of its future first-round picks and stayed clean on the salary sheet.
Collins came over from the Clippers in a sign-and-trade on a three-year, $51 million deal, with the final two seasons non-guaranteed. Joe is in the middle of a four-year, $48 million contract that runs through 2027-28, when the last season becomes a team option.
Prince and Harris are on expiring veteran minimum deals.
There is still unfinished business. Duren remains in restricted free agency, and the Pistons also plan to extend Thompson so they can lock in their three core players long term.
That flexibility won’t win games by itself, but in the current CBA landscape it carries real value. The second tax apron works like an unofficial hard cap, squeezing contending teams and forcing expensive rosters apart, as the Boston Celtics have learned. Detroit has benefited from winning with a roster built around rookie contracts, but that bill only gets bigger as those players grow into their next deals.
When the season opens Oct. 20, the first half of the schedule should tell the story: did the Pistons play it too safe, or is there still another level in a team that has already beaten expectations two years running?
In Other News...
Pistons May Have A New Lineup Teams Wont Want To See
The Pistons have spent the offseason looking for ways to make the floor bigger around Cade Cunningham, and one possible answer is a small-ball group built for spacing and switching. With Duncan Robinson and Isaiah Joe supplying shooting, Detroit has enough perimeter gravity to at least borrow a little from the old Warriors model, while John Collins gives the front line another athletic piece who can help keep the offense moving.
What makes the idea more interesting is how much it depends on the defensive side of the equation. Ausar Thompson is the kind of versatile stopper who could help a positionless look survive by cleaning up mistakes and chasing different matchups across the floor, which is why this kind of lineup has real intrigue in short bursts even if it is never meant to become the teams full identity. For a Pistons team trying to find an edge, that balance of shooting and disruption could be worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Face A Pressure Point That Could Define Their Next Step
Cade Cunningham remains the centerpiece of Detroits rebuild, and the latest roster discussion around the Pistons keeps circling back to the same concern: there is still not enough offensive help around him. Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson give the group promise on the young side, but the bigger picture is whether those pieces are enough to keep pace while the Eastern Conference continues to tighten up around them.
That is why the pressure point feels so immediate. Detroit has spent enough time collecting young talent, and now the question is whether the front office is ready to lean into the short term by using draft capital to add proven scoring and make the roster more functional right away. The Pistons do not have the luxury of waiting forever, and the next move could say a lot about how aggressively they want to climb in the East. [Read more 🡒]
Isaiah Stewart Could Still Make The Pistons Regret This Decision
Isaiah Stewarts departure this offseason was one of those moves that made sense on paper for Detroit, at least from the Pistons point of view. His offensive role had been limited under JB Bickerstaff, and while his defense remained a valuable calling card, the team saw enough change in how he was being used to decide a fresh start was needed.
Now Stewart is set up for a different kind of opportunity with the Grizzlies, who intend to use him alongside their frontcourt core. Detroit still expects him to bring the same physical presence and defensive stability he showed here, but theres also a quiet curiosity attached to this split. If Memphis unlocks even a modest step forward on the offensive end, the Pistons could be left wondering whether they moved on just a little too early. [Read more 🡒]