The NBA’s Christmas Day slate for 2026 says a lot about who the league still sees as must-watch - and, at least for now, Detroit isn’t one of them.
The Pistons will get the season started in a weirdly early spotlight, hosting the Celtics at 3 p.m. ET on Oct. 20 in the first regular-season game of 2026-27.
But when Dec. 25 rolls around, they’ll be watching from home again. That’s the part that stings.
Detroit last played on Christmas in 2005, which means Cade Cunningham was four years old the last time the Pistons were part of the league’s holiday showcase. And after a 60-win season that finished with the top spot in the East, it’s hard to argue they didn’t earn a place there.
The league’s Christmas schedule, as reported by Shams Charania, is Spurs at Knicks, Heat at Celtics, 76ers at Lakers, Thunder at Timberwolves and Nuggets at Warriors.
That list explains the omission. New York was always going to be there.
Philadelphia, with LeBron as part of the equation, was a lock. Miami was expected to represent the East, too.
Boston also had the kind of name value that usually gets a Christmas nod, even with Jaylen Brown traded to the Sixers. Detroit, meanwhile, got left out despite going farther in the playoffs than the Celtics, who were knocked out in Game 7 of the first round by Philadelphia.
The Pistons didn’t make the kind of headline-grabbing offseason move some around the league may have been waiting for, though Cunningham alone is already a draw. Still, that wasn’t enough to push them onto the holiday stage.
Maybe that changes if Detroit keeps building and finally turns regular-season success into a deeper playoff run. The hope is that the Pistons are aiming for a conference finals appearance for the first time since 2008, and if they keep climbing, a Christmas Day return could come in 2027.
For now, though, the message is clear: Detroit gets the early tip-off, not the holiday spotlight.
In Other News...
Pistons Linked To Young Bucks Guard They May Struggle To Land
The Pistons search for another source of secondary scoring and playmaking has naturally led them toward the trade market, and Milwaukee guard Ryan Rollins has surfaced as an intriguing name. After a breakout season, Rollins looks like the kind of young backcourt piece that fits Detroits timeline, giving the front office a reason to at least monitor whether a deal could be possible if the Bucks ever become open to moving him.
The problem is that Milwaukee has little obvious incentive to part with a player who is just starting to show real value, which makes any pursuit difficult before it even gets off the ground. Some speculation has already centered on what it might take to pry him loose, and the broader question for the Pistons is whether the price would be worth it when the asking point could be steep enough to test how aggressive they want to be. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons May Need An Unlikely Answer To Their Tobias Harris Problem
Replacing Tobias Harris was always going to be about more than swapping one frontcourt name for another. John Collins brings a different skill set to Detroit, but he does not naturally fill the same role Harris did as a self-creator, which leaves the Pistons needing help elsewhere if they want the offense to keep its balance when the minutes get a little more improvised.
That is where Daniss Jenkins enters the conversation, and in a way the team probably did not anticipate when the offseason began. He is expected to take on a larger role with Cade Cunningham off the floor, and Detroit will need him to turn last seasons promising penetration into more reliable scoring and creation. Jenkins showed he can get into the lane, but the next step is making those drives count in the paint, which could end up being a bigger part of solving this roster puzzle than anyone thought. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Duren Idea Would Force Pistons To Rethink Their Identity
The Pistons have spent recent seasons trying to build around a young core, and Jalen Duren has been part of that foundation in the middle. So when The Game Theory Podcast floated a speculative sign-and-trade framework, it naturally landed as more than just offseason chatter. The idea centered on Detroit shifting from its current interior-first look toward a different kind of lineup balance, one that could better fit the evolving shape of the roster.
At the heart of the concept is the kind of player Detroit has been linked to in theory for a while, a stretch five who can open the floor, plus another creator who can ease some pressure on the ball-handlers. Even so, the discussion also underscored how dramatic a move like this would be for the Pistons, because it would ask them to rethink both their identity and the role Duren has played in it. For now, it reads as a thought exercise more than a realistic transaction, but it is the sort of idea that tends to linger because it touches on so many of Detroits biggest questions. [Read more 🡒]