The Pistons can’t afford to drift, not after reaching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference last season and then falling to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. If Detroit is going to keep moving forward, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren may end up being part of the answer by helping each other grow on offense.
Right now, both players still have work to do on that end. Neither has established himself as a major offensive threat yet, and both remain limited.
But the path each one needs to take could also make life easier for the other. Thompson needs to become a better playmaker, especially since his three-point shooting isn’t ideal.
Duren, meanwhile, has to keep finding ways to stay involved in the offense.
If Thompson makes a real jump as a passer and creator next season, it would do more than raise his own ceiling. It would give Duren another player who can get him the ball and keep the offense from leaning too heavily on one source.
That’s where the Pistons’ setup comes in. For the past few years, Cade Cunningham has been the center of everything.
That makes sense, because Cunningham is one of the best players in the world and one of the league’s best offensive organizers. But the playoffs last year showed Detroit needs more than Cunningham alone.
The supporting cast looks different now, too. Tobias Harris, who helped in the postseason, is gone after joining the San Antonio Spurs.
Caris LeVert is gone as well. In their place are players such as Daniss Jenkins, Isaiah Joe - whom the Pistons just acquired in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder - and rookie Ebuka Okorie.
Still, the biggest offensive gains have to come from the team’s core pieces, because those are the players JB Bickerstaff is most likely to trust on the floor. Thompson’s offense kept him from staying on the court as consistently as Bickerstaff probably wanted, and Paul Reed even had to step in for Duren at times.
That makes the Thompson-Duren connection especially interesting. If Thompson turns into more of a playmaker, it would relieve some of the creative burden on Cunningham. And if Duren has another reliable setup man beside him - while defenses can’t load up on Cunningham as often - that should open things up for him too.
In other words, Thompson and Duren could feed off each other.
In Other News...
Pistons Are About To Gain Two Trade Chips Worth Watching
The Pistons added a couple of familiar veteran pieces when they took on Taurean Prince and Gary Harris in the multi-team sign-and-trade that sent John Collins on his way, and even before training camp fully gets rolling, their long-term value looks tied more to the trade market than the rotation. Both players give Detroit some experienced depth, but the bigger appeal may be that they are movable contracts on a roster still shaping its next phase.
Detroit has more immediate business to handle, especially with contract extensions for Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson on the table, but Prince and Harris could become useful chips when the front office starts looking for flexibility. For a team that may need salary-matching help later, those deals give the Pistons another layer of optionality, and the timing of when they can be bundled in a trade will be worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Still Face A Bigger Risk Than The Jalen Duren Standoff
Jalen Durens contract situation remains one of the lingering items on Detroits offseason checklist as camp draws closer, but it is not the only roster issue hovering over the Pistons. The bigger picture is that the front office is still trying to steady its relationship with Duren while keeping the focus on a younger core, rather than jumping into a costly star chase that could reshape the teams future.
That caution looks even more deliberate when measured against the kind of swing-for-the-fences move Detroit passed on with Anthony Davis. Davis is extension-eligible, has not played for the Washington Wizards because of injury concerns, and the Wizards plan to discuss an extension with him during the season, which only adds to the kind of long-term uncertainty Detroit seems intent to avoid right now. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Face A Risky Kyrie Irving Debate That Could Change Everything
A speculative three-team trade idea has put Detroit in the middle of a familiar kind of NBA debate, one where upside and instability sit right next to each other. The proposal would reshape the Pistons roster in a hurry, with the conversation centered on whether adding Kyrie Irving would be worth the cost in depth, rotation balance and future flexibility.
The attraction is obvious for a team looking to accelerate its timeline, especially with another veteran piece in the mix, but the price tag in players and draft capital makes the whole exercise hard to ignore. Even as the idea percolates, the real question for Detroit is not just what it would gain, but how much of its present and future it would be willing to sacrifice to get there. [Read more 🡒]