Cade Cunningham has every reason to look around this offseason and wonder why the Detroit Pistons haven’t pushed harder.
Detroit entered the summer with the kind of momentum that usually leads to bold swings. The Pistons came up short in the postseason, but Cunningham’s playoff run made one thing clear: they already have the superstar they need to build around. That should have set up a busy, aggressive offseason for Trajan Langdon.
Instead, the moves have been modest. John Collins, Isaiah Joe and rookie Ebuka Okorie are the headliners so far, and while each brings something interesting, none of it changes the bigger picture on its own. Detroit also lost Tobias Harris and Isaiah Stewart, and it still hasn’t made the kind of forceful move that matches the opportunity in front of it.
That’s the part that stands out. The Pistons have been connected to a long list of names this summer - Austin Reaves, Trey Murphy III, Kawhi Leonard and Kyrie Irving among them - but nothing has turned into the sort of swing that signals urgency.
Some of that is out of their hands. Reaves stayed with the Lakers before free agency, Leonard made it clear he would only sign an extension with two teams, and Murphy III came with an asking price that was hard to swallow.
Even so, the bigger question is why Detroit hasn’t gone after LeBron James. Rich Paul said James is open to hearing offers from every team in the league, and that alone should have at least forced the Pistons to take a serious look.
Minnesota has done exactly that. The Timberwolves have reportedly made an aggressive push for James, and that comes after Tim Connelly already made a splash before the draft by landing LaMelo Ball from the Charlotte Hornets. It’s the kind of all-in behavior that says plenty about how a front office views its window.
The contrast is hard to miss. Minnesota is acting like a team that wants to build around Anthony Edwards right now. Detroit, by comparison, has mostly settled for incremental additions and hopes that will be enough.
And it’s not just Minnesota. A number of teams around the league have already made loud moves early in the summer, which only sharpens the focus on what the Pistons have - and haven’t - done.
There’s still time for Detroit to change the story. But right now, the lack of urgency is obvious, and it’s the sort of approach that should leave Cunningham frustrated if the front office doesn’t do more soon.
In Other News...
Pistons May Have Found An Answer To A Growing Problem Inside
The Pistons spent part of the draft addressing a need that had been easy to spot inside, adding Ugonna Onyenso with the No. 53 pick after getting the selection from the Knicks. Onyenso arrives with a reputation built on defense and rim protection, the kind of profile that can matter quickly for a team looking to shore up the paint without asking a rookie to carry too much too soon.
Detroits move also comes with a practical wrinkle, since Onyenso is on a two-way contract and is expected to bounce between the Pistons and the Motor City Cruise as he adjusts to the pro game. His path through Virginia, Kansas State and Kentucky already shows how much experience he has picked up, but the bigger question for the Pistons is how fast that defensive identity can translate into a role they can actually use. [Read more 🡒]
Donovan Mitchells New Deal Could Open A Door For Detroit
Donovan Mitchells new extension in Cleveland does more than lock in the Cavaliers top scorer for the long term. It also pushes a huge chunk of the roster budget onto one player, and in the current CBA landscape that kind of commitment can ripple through everything else a team tries to do. For Detroit, that matters because the Pistons are always watching for the moment a rivals financial picture starts to squeeze its flexibility.
The Cavaliers now have to navigate a payroll that is already heavy in the wrong places, with Mitchell and Evan Mobley taking up a massive share of next seasons money and Mitchell set to climb even higher on a future player option. Once a team gets boxed in like that, the choices get harder fast, and names such as Dennis Schroder, Max Strus and Jarrett Allen can move from useful pieces to potential pressure points. For the Pistons, the broader takeaway is simple: Clevelands new deal may create the kind of cap tension that eventually sends a useful player onto the market. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Are Running Out Of Time To Help Cade Cunningham
Detroit still has not solved one of its clearest offseason questions: who can take some of the burden off Cade Cunningham as a creator and shot-maker? The front office has been linked to ways of adding another offensive engine, but the market has thinned quickly, and the list of realistic options looks a lot shorter than it did even a few weeks ago.
Trey Murphy III of the New Orleans Pelicans has emerged as one of the few names left who could fit that need, giving the Pistons a possible path to more secondary scoring without forcing Cunningham to do so much heavy lifting. Other paths have already disappeared as the offseason has moved on, which leaves Detroit staring at a familiar roster gap and a shrinking window to address it. [Read more 🡒]