The first five games have already given the Pistons a pretty clear snapshot of where things stand. Detroit is 4-1, coming off a 97-89 home win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena, and sits atop the Eastern Conference heading into Friday night’s NBA Cup group play opener on the road against the Brooklyn Nets.
A handful of players have helped shape that early surge, while one young piece has had a rough opening stretch.
Duncan Robinson has been exactly what the Pistons need him to be, and then some. Detroit’s best three-point shooter has opened the season on a heater, scoring in double figures in every game while knocking down 43.5 percent of his threes. His biggest moment so far came in the comeback win over the Boston Celtics, when he buried five three-pointers on nine attempts and scored 15 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter of Detroit’s 121-113 victory.
That kind of shooting matters for a Pistons team trying to survive and thrive in a crowded East. Detroit had plenty going for it last season, winning 60 games and earning the No. 1 seed, but unreliable perimeter shooting still showed up as a problem when the playoffs got deeper. This year, Robinson is part of a better-looking mix from long range, with John Collins and Isaiah Joe also in the picture.
Daniss Jenkins has kept building on the momentum from his breakout 2025-26 season. With Duren out at least the next two weeks because of a hamstring strain, Jenkins has become even more important in the rotation, and he showed why against Charlotte. He finished with 14 points, three assists and two rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting, and his buzzer-beater at the end of the first half stood out as one of the night’s best plays.
Paul Reed has also answered the call with Duren sidelined. In Tuesday’s 111-97 loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Reed led the Pistons with 22 points, nine rebounds and three assists on 9-of-12 shooting, with 13 of those points coming in the first quarter.
He followed that up Wednesday with 16 points and four rebounds on 5-of-7 shooting. That kind of physical, hard-nosed production is hardly unfamiliar territory for Reed, who stepped up last season when Duren struggled during the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Cavaliers.
Not everyone has come out of the gate cleanly, though. Ron Holland II, the former No. 5 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, has had a rocky start to the 2026-27 season. He’s had two especially rough games in the first five, including against the Hornets and 76ers, and Wednesday was the low point so far: 12 minutes, no points and four turnovers.
Through five games, Holland is averaging 2.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists. Turnovers and fouls have been the biggest issue, and if the production doesn’t climb as the season goes on, he could find himself on the trade block at the deadline.
In Other News...
John Collins Is Becoming A Real Pistons Problem At Home
John Collins has quietly become one of the more intriguing variables in the Pistons rotation, and the split is hard to ignore. On the road, he has been a steadier source of points, rebounds and efficient shooting, which is exactly the kind of help Detroit needs from a frontcourt player asked to stretch the floor and clean up the glass while Jalen Duren is out. At home, though, the production has dipped enough to stand out, with his scoring and shooting sliding and the three-point volume thinning out.
For a team leaning on Collins to do some of the dirty work and some of the spacing, that home-versus-road gap matters. The Pistons still need him to be part of the answer inside their own building, but the upcoming road slate at least gives him a chance to get back into a rhythm where he has looked more like the version Detroit has been hoping for. [Read more 🡒]
Daniss Jenkins Is Giving The Pistons A Lineup Decision They Can't Ignore
Daniss Jenkins has turned a short-term opportunity into a real conversation for the Pistons. With Cade Cunningham carrying plenty of the creation load, Jenkins has helped ease some of that pressure by bringing scoring and playmaking in recent games, including a string of double-digit outings and a useful role in Detroits win over the Charlotte Hornets.
Now the question is whether the production is stable enough to force a bigger lineup change. Jenkins is at least being considered for a starting role, but that kind of move would ask for more consistent shooting efficiency and could mean reshuffling the rotation in a way that affects either John Collins or Duncan Robinson. For a team still searching for the cleanest way to balance its offense, that is not a small decision. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Suddenly Need Paul Reed More Than They Planned
Jalen Durens strained hamstring has quickly changed the look of the Pistons frontcourt, and it has pushed Paul Reed into a much bigger role than Detroit likely had in mind. With Duren expected to miss a couple of weeks, Reed has gone from depth piece to the center the Pistons are leaning on to hold things together in the middle.
Reed has already given the coaching staff something to work with, logging significant minutes against the Hornets and finishing with 16 points, four rebounds, three steals and a block. The bigger question now is how long Detroit can keep asking him to carry that load, and whether the team will need to adjust further if Durens absence stretches beyond the initial window. [Read more 🡒]