Basketball season is upon us!
The Detroit Pistons open the 2023-2024 campaign on Wednesday night in Miami, after finishing last season with the worst record in the league.
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After getting a needle to the eye during the NBA Draft Lottery and missing out on Victor Wembanyama, Pistons fans were left feeling hopeless. But that dreary fog seems to be lifting, at least for now, with the return of the chosen one -- Cade Cunningham.
It won’t be easy. There are lot of challenges facing Detroit. Youth, the Eastern Conference, youth, Giannis, youth. You get it. But Pistons GM Troy Weaver told us last season that he’s still confident in the future of the team. Patience is running thin.
The Pistons win over-under to start the season is 27.5, which would be an 11 game win improvement if they hit 28 wins. Could they do it? Maybe. Probably. But with a young team and a new coach, it’s hard to know what’s coming.
Will Cade Cunningham finally break out?
The former No. 1 overall pick is now entering his third season, with his first two seasons being cut short by injury. Still, he showed plenty of talent in the short time he’s been on the floor for Detroit.
Cunningham has had several months to sit back, learn and clearly, build muscle, as he prepares to return as the team’s floor general.
In preseason, Cunningham has looked bigger, leaner, faster and in control. In fact, Cade has the fourth highest odds to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player award right now, and he hasn’t played in a regular season game in almost a year.
It’s simple for the Pistons -- if they have any hope of morphing into a contender in the coming years, they need Cade Cunningham to blossom into an All Star. He needs to be shooting the three ball efficiently, and he needs to make the players around him better. Period.
If that doesn’t happen, Pistons fans will likely have to endure another stretch of dark, gloomy basketball in Detroit.
Where does Ausar Thompson fit in?
Losing Wemby was a blow to the Detroit sports ecosystem, but nabbing forward Ausar Thompson at No. 5 isn’t a terrible consolation prize.
Thompson has shown why he deserved to be a top pick already in preseason (and Summer League). He’s fast, athletic, and he does just about everything pretty well, including on the defensive end.
There’s a reason new head coach Monty Williams is planning to immediately plug him into the starting lineup, seemingly over second-year guard Jaden Ivey. Thompson’s 111.5 defensive rating through preseason would have him ranked among the best defenders in the league, if the games were real.
I’m excited to see what Thompson can bring to the team.
The front-court battle
We’ve heard throughout camp and preseason that there was an ongoing battle between James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley III for a big man spot on the team, behind Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. They both played pretty well, so it’s a bit unclear what the plan will be, but we’ll find out soon.
Either way, the Pistons appear to have some depth to work with, adding in Bojan Bogdanović, who will miss the first month of the season.
The biggest thing to watch this year is Jalen Duren, who is about to turn 20 in November. Duren had a great rookie season, stealing the starting spot, and finishing averaging near a double double.
Duren’s next step in development is building his offensive post game, continuing to rebound like a beast, and improving on defense, where he could turn into an elite shot blocker at the rim.
The starting lineup
Head coach Monty Williams has toyed with some different configurations in preseason, but it seemed like second year guard Jaden Ivey will be coming off the bench to start the season, even if he ends up playing starter minutes.
But with the Bogdanović injury, the Pistons will probably go with Cade, Ivey and Ausar, at least to start the season.
The projected starting lineup appears to be:
C: Jalen Duren
F: Isaiah Stewart
F: Ausar Thompson
G: Jaden Ivey
G: Cade Cunningham
Coach Williams could decide to go with Alec Burks at the two-spot, but that would just be an experience decision. Whenever Bogdanović returns, we could see Ivey move to the bench, and Ausar would move to the two. We’ll see how that shakes out.
I think most fans would rather see Isaiah Stewart come off the bench, but what do we know?
As far at the rotation goes, Killian Hayes is still around, along with rookie Marcus Sasser, who had a great preseason. They’ll back up the backcourt for now, while Monte Morris gets back into shape.
Alec Burks, Joe Harris and eventually Isaiah Livers will also see some time, along with Marvin Bagley III and maybe James Wiseman.
Pistons early schedule:
- Oct. 25 @ Miami
- Oct. 27 @ Charlotte
- Oct. 28 vs. Chicago (home opener)
- Oct. 30 @ Oklahoma City
- Nov. 1 vs. Portland