The recent video of Isaiah Stewart punching former Suns center Drew Eubanks is a sharp reminder of why Detroit was willing to move on from him this offseason. The trade was controversial, and the timing is still easy to question, especially if it ended up feeding into Jalen Duren’s ongoing holdout over his contract extension. But the reasoning behind the decision starts to make sense when Stewart’s history of flareups is part of the picture.
For the Pistons, Stewart was never just a hard-nosed big man. He was the kind of player who could fire up a crowd and drag a game into the mud, which is exactly why plenty of fans connected with him.
That edge called back to old Detroit identities, from the Bad Boys to the Goin' to Work era. But that same edge also came with a price, and too often it was the Pistons paying it.
Over the past five seasons, Stewart was ejected five times, costing him 15 total games. And that number doesn’t even include the other nights when technicals or flagrant fouls pushed him off the floor. Those kinds of breakdowns don’t just hurt one player’s rhythm - they make life harder for everyone around him.
That was the issue Detroit could never fully shake. No matter how much maturity Stewart showed in stretches, there was always the risk that the next loss of control would come at the wrong time.
If it landed in the middle of a tight stretch or a playoff race, the damage could be bigger than a single missed game. That’s why the front office’s choice to move on after six seasons in Detroit is easier to understand now.
The Pistons will still have to replace what he brought on defense. Stewart’s departure puts even more pressure on Ausar Thompson to help carry that end while he continues developing offensively. But Detroit has shown it can adjust, and there are still enough pieces to keep the defense solid.
Ron Holland II and Javonte Green give the Pistons more help off the bench on that side of the ball, and the team believes it can still put together 48 minutes of strong defense each night without Stewart. At center, Paul Reed is positioned to take over a bigger role after flashing real value whenever he got chances last season. His playoff performance, in fact, was the final push that made Stewart expendable.
In the end, Detroit decided it could no longer live with the uncertainty that came with Stewart. For a player who had become more of a luxury than a necessity, the Pistons weren’t willing to keep gambling on suspensions, ejections, and the next eruption.
In Other News...
Pistons May Have Finally Found A Jalen Duren Trade Fit
Jalen Durens name is starting to surface in the kind of trade chatter that usually only appears when a team is weighing its long-term direction, and the Atlanta Hawks have been mentioned as a possible fit. The logic is pretty simple: Atlanta could use more size, and league observers have pointed to Onyeka Okongwu as the kind of young center who could make a deal workable if the conversation ever got serious.
For Detroit, the idea is intriguing mostly because it says something about Durens value around the league. The Hawks have other useful pieces too, including Nickeil Alexander-Walker, but they are not likely to move a player of Okongwus caliber without real reason to believe Durens future in Detroit is slipping away. For now, it remains a speculative angle, one that depends on how negotiations unfold and whether the Pistons ever get a signal that changes the stakes. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Are Betting On Ausar Thompson In A Risky Tradeoff
The Pistons are asking Ausar Thompson to take on more offense next season, a push that fits the broader need for another young core piece to do more with the ball in his hands. Detroit has seen enough of his defensive gifts to know what he brings on that end, but the plan now is to stretch his game and see whether a bigger scoring role can help raise the teams overall ceiling.
Ausars path is hardly without risk, though, because a more assertive offensive approach can change the balance of everything else he does on the floor. Detroit is betting the payoff will be worth it, hoping any small slide in his defensive production is more than covered by the added offense, even if the tradeoff has the feel of a delicate one. [Read more 🡒]
Trajan Langdon Faces Big Pistons Questions Fans Need Answered
The Pistons are back together for their official media day, and for a fan base that spent much of the summer looking for signs of urgency, the questions waiting for Trajan Langdon are pretty straightforward. Detroits offseason has been quiet, the roster still feels unfinished, and the conversation has circled back to the same core issue for a team trying to build around Cade Cunningham: whether the front office did enough to add the kind of help that changes the tone of a season.
Langdon is also expected to face more pointed questions about Jalen Duren, whose contract talks have lingered in the background as the Pistons sort through their next steps. With speculation still hanging over Detroits pursuit of bigger names and more proven scoring, the tension is less about what has already happened than what the organization actually tried to make happen, and whether the teams long-term plan is as clear as it needs to be. [Read more 🡒]