Less than two years removed from a 14-win campaign and a record-setting losing streak, the Detroit Pistons are flipping the script in dramatic fashion. At the midway point of the 2025-26 NBA season, they’re not just relevant - they’re leading the Eastern Conference with a 28-10 record and sitting four games clear at the top.
That’s not a typo. The same Pistons team that was once the league’s punching bag is now a legitimate Finals contender.
And the basketball world is taking notice.
In a set of midseason predictions, a panel of analysts unanimously picked Detroit to face the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. Three of the five even have the Pistons pushing through to the NBA Finals. That’s a staggering turnaround for a franchise that, not long ago, was more concerned with lottery odds than playoff matchups.
A big reason for the Pistons’ rise? Cade Cunningham.
The third-year guard has elevated his game and, according to multiple analysts, is playing like the best player in the East. He’s not just stuffing the stat sheet - he’s controlling games, making the right reads, and showing the kind of poise you expect from a seasoned All-Star, not a 22-year-old still finding his ceiling.
NBA analyst John Gonzalez sees Detroit exacting some revenge on the Knicks, who edged them out in a tight playoff series last season. He has the Pistons getting past New York this time around before falling to the defending champion Denver Nuggets in the Finals. His reasoning is simple: consistency and Cunningham.
“The Pistons have been the most consistent team in the East,” Gonzalez writes. “And they have the best player on either team.”
That consistency has been a hallmark of Detroit’s season. While the rest of the East has been a rollercoaster - with contenders like Boston, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia all showing flashes but also dealing with injuries and inconsistency - the Pistons have quietly stacked wins. They’re not blowing teams away with flash, but they’re executing, defending, and playing with a maturity that belies their youth.
Robby Kalland and Jack Maloney also have Detroit reaching the Finals, though both predict a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder - the team with the NBA’s best record at 34-7. Kalland points out that while the East has been chaotic, that chaos might actually work in Detroit’s favor.
“The East is a mess, but I think it'll be a fun mess come playoff time,” he writes. “There are a ton of teams that will truly believe they can make the Finals because of how up-and-down most teams have been and the fact that Detroit is unproven in terms of being able to make a deep playoff run.”
That’s the key question now: Can Detroit translate regular-season success into postseason wins? Last year’s six-game battle with the Knicks gave them a taste of playoff intensity.
They didn’t get over the hump, but they came close - and that kind of experience tends to pay off the next time around. Kalland believes Cunningham’s growth will be the difference if those two teams meet again.
“I expect them to learn from that experience,” he adds. “If they find themselves in close games again late - which seems likely with those two teams - Cade will ultimately prevail and push them to the Finals.”
There’s still a long way to go, and Detroit’s lack of playoff pedigree will remain a talking point until they prove it on the court. But right now, they’re not just a feel-good story - they’re a serious threat.
A team that was once buried at the bottom of the standings is now setting the pace in the East. And if Cade Cunningham keeps playing like this, the Pistons might not just be ahead of schedule - they might be right on time.