of detroit pistons The team came home from Christmas a year ago as one of the most pathetic teams in NBA history. Detroit lost on the season, dropping to 2-28. brooklyn nets The day after Christmas, as part of an eternal losing streak that tied the league record for consecutive losses. After averaging more than 58 losses per season for three years, the team had hit rock bottom after years of rebuilding with little progress.
The Pistons were able to avoid the Bobcats zone as the worst team in history, but their 14-68 record at the end of the year served as a five-alarm warning that changes needed to be made. Troy Weaver has been fired as chief front office decision maker and replaced by Trajan Langdon. Monty Williams was fired as head coach even though he had a guaranteed $65 million remaining on his contract.
The Pistons' transformational goal was simple. It's about building a competitive team that won't embarrass a proud basketball market with its citizens. After just one year, it feels like they've already crossed that hurdle.
The Pistons earned their 14th win of the season on Thursday night thanks to an incredible comeback against the Sacramento Kings. After trailing by 19 points in the second half, Detroit closed out the game with a ferocious rally and took the lead on Jaden Ivey's impossible four-point play in the final seconds.
With this win, the Pistons already tied the number of wins they had on December 26 of last year. After already defeating the Pistons, it was the Pistons' third straight win. los angeles lakers and phoenix suns On a west coast road trip. After only winning seven games on the road last year, Detroit has already won nine games on the road this season.
It was the first time the Pistons had a legitimate winning streak of three or more games in more than 1,000 days.
I can't even imagine being a Kings fan now.
This is the highest possible breakdown of order.
The Pistons achieved their third consecutive win for the first time in 1,025 days, and this is what happened.
— Keith Black Trudeau (@Charlottean28) December 27, 2024
The Pistons are 14-17 overall this season, not necessarily a world-beating team, and are in the ninth seed in the Eastern Conference, their worst situation to date. Still, there's real reason to be excited in Detroit for the first time since the rebuild began after a .500 season in 2019.
JB Bickerstaff specialized in running Detroit
The Pistons had plenty of low-hanging fruit in the wake of the Monty Williams-era missteps. The team hired J.B. Bickerstaff as head coach, hoping to take the Pistons from Point C to Point B, similar to his time with the Cavs.
Bickerstaff did away with the two fateful lineups that featured heavily during his time with Williams. A year ago, he went all out with Jaden Ivey in the backcourt after the young guard was benched for Killian Hayes. He tried to get more shots around Ivey and backcourt mate Cade Cunningham. He also improved the defense of a team that had one of the worst units in the league a year ago.
The Pistons currently rank 15th in 3-point percentage and 17th in 3-point percentage, which is a big improvement from finishing 27th and 26th in those categories last year. With Hayes completely out of the league, Ivey took on the role of a second ball handler with real scoring ability. The defense improved from No. 26 to No. 19 despite playing with a smaller lineup. There's more structure and more purpose to everything the Pistons do on both ends of the court this year, and that's a testament to the huge coaching upgrade Bickerstaff provided.
Cade Cunningham finally becomes an All-Star
I'm all-in on Cade Cunningham as the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. His first three years in the league were incredibly disappointing, as he spent most of his second season with a foot injury and there was no offensive space around him. There were easy excuses, like , and having a terrible defensive ecosystem in place.
Cunningham finally made his mark this season, lifting the Pistons up the standings. The 23-year-old guard is currently averaging 24.2 points, 9.7 assists and 6.9 rebounds per game. He ranks among the top five in the league in points and assists combined.
Cunningham will do everything he can for Detroit's offense, for better or worse. He remains an inefficient scorer, with a true shooting percentage plus (100 is league average) of 95. He ranks third in the league in total turnovers behind Trae Young and James Harden. He's a poor finisher at the rim for a player his size (he's made just 57 percent of his field goals from within 3 feet this year) and doesn't quite get to the free-throw line.
Cunningham isn't as good as I thought he would be coming into the league, but he's definitely an All-Star in the East this season. Having more shots around him opens up his ability to get to the rim even if he's not great at finishing. His pull-up 3-point shooting went from 32.5 percent on two attempts last year to 39.8 percent on 4.2 attempts per game this year. Trae Young is the only player in the league who averages more assists per game. Cunningham has finally reached low-end stardom at this point, but he has plenty of ways to continue growing.
The Pistons have the best knockdown shooter in the league.
Detroit signed Malik Beasley to a one-year, $6 million per week free agent contract. Beasley has long been one of the NBA's better shooters, but his lack of a balanced offensive game and poor defense meant he was on five teams in five years. Beasley might not fit everywhere, but he was a welcome addition to a Detroit team that desperately needed shooters around Cunningham. He responded with the best season of his career.
Beasley leads the NBA in both 3-point attempts (290) and 3-point makes (122) this season. He's hitting 42.1 percent of his triples, giving Detroit a shooter that opposing defenses can't fool on the perimeter.
Malik Beasley came off the bench to lead the NBA in 3-pointers made this season with 122, passing Anthony Edwards. He is on track to hit 327, which would obliterate the Pistons' franchise record of 211 triples in a season. Sadiq Bey for the 2021-22 season.
— Keith Langlois (@Keith_Langlois) December 27, 2024
The Pistons still have a long way to go, but they're finally making progress.
The Pistons have acquired plenty of high lottery picks in recent years. The goal this season is to make the playoffs, and the path to getting there now lies in the East.
Moving forward, Detroit needs a big player who can better protect the rim. I was hoping Jalen Duren might come out of Memphis, and he might get there eventually. As of now, his inside finishing play is elite, but on the floor he has a 120 D rating and is abysmal defensively. Duren just turned 21 and has great tools, but he needs to take a step forward defensively if he's going to be the starting center long-term.
The Pistons could also make more use of Tobias Harris' spot. Detroit signed Harris to a two-year, $52 million contract this summer, a large contract that expires this offseason. Harris is shooting 52.8 percent from the field, a career low. It shouldn't be too difficult to upgrade at that spot next season, as teams look to release players they no longer need.
It's not easy to make the playoffs with the Miami Heat, but atlanta hawksand the Indiana Pacers are currently clinging to the final three playoff seeds. of philadelphia 76ers If Joel Embiid can stay healthy, they'll come. Still, if Detroit can get over 40 wins this year, they have a chance to make the playoffs in the East.
It's been said that you have to crawl before you can throw the ball, and the Pistons are finally doing that, at least this season. Langdon and the front office have a lot of work left to do, but Detroit can finally say they have something to be excited about here. Too much time has passed.
