The Detroit Pistons released their 2022-23 schedule yesterday, and as reported, will kick off their season against the Orlando Magic.
It will be a battle of two up-and-coming teams that finished at the bottom of the Eastern Conference last season but are hoping to turn things around and climb the standings.
Both teams are loaded with young talent and are in a race to see which bad team in the East will get good first.
Hopefully the home fans in Detroit will get treated to an opening night win to get the season started the right way to avoid the type of horrific start that submarined last season.
Aside from two young teams on the come up, there are a number of interesting subplots in this one, especially for two teams that won a combined 45 games lasts season.
When does the Detroit Pistons season start?
The season will tip off on October 19th at 7:00 PM ET in Little Caesar’s Arena in downtown Detroit, and one of the interesting subplots will be the battle of the big men.
The Pistons have five players who can play the center position, and they will need them all against an Orlando team that has a number of bigs of their own.
One of the big questions around this Pistons’ team is how they are going to use their bigs, and we’ll get an idea right away, as they will likely all be on call against Mo Bamba, Jonathan Isaac, Wendell Carter Jr. and rookie Paolo Banchero.
Will Isaiah Stewart get the start at center or will he begin the season as the four with Marvin Bagley III, Nerlens Noel or even rookie Jalen Duren at center?
Will the Pistons’ bigs be able to create any mismatches? None of the Magic centers are great at switching on the perimeter, so we may get our first taste of “Stretch Stew” launching some three point shots in an effort to create space.
Dwane Casey has a lot of lineup and rotation possibilities and his big man group will get tested right away against a deep Orlando front court.
Detroit Pistons regular season schedule: Who has the better small forward?
Another compelling subplot will be the battle of the small forwards featuring Saddiq Bey of the Detroit Pistons and Franz Wagner of the Orlando Magic.
Recently, I put together my rankings of Eastern Conference wings and one of the more controversial choices was putting Bey ahead of Wagner, which some people disagreed with.
Bey’s numbers were better all around, but Wagner was more efficient, and there’s also the fact that Wagner was just a rookie while Bey was in his second season.
Bey dropped 51 points on Orlando and will be hoping to have a similar game on opening night to show that he is one of the top young forwards in the game and still has the edge on his rival from Orlando.
These two should be battling it out for years to come and will definitely be a matchup to watch in the opening night game in Detroit.
This head-to-head battle will go a long way in determining which young team starts their season off with a win.
Detroit Pistons Schedule: Battle of two #1 picks
But the biggest subplot in the Detroit Pistons’ opener against Orlando will be the battle of Cade Cunningham and Paolo Banchero, two former #1 picks.
The two are unlikely to be defending each other much, but all eyes will be on the two guys who are now the centerpieces of their respective franchises.
Is Cade going to come out and dominate in year two? He has reportedly put on muscle and been working out with some of the elite of the league this offseason, so I expect him to have a big game right away and start his march towards making his first All-Star team.
Cunningham is out to prove that he should have been Rookie of the Year and that he is the best player from his draft class.
Same with Banchero, who was a bit of a surprise as the number one pick, as it was rumored that the Magic were going to take Jabari Smith, who ended up falling to the Houston Rockets.
Banchero is still a teenager, so may take some time, but that won’t stop the media and fans from questioning him as the #1 pick (as they did with Cade Cunningham), especially if Chet Holmgren or Jabari Smith get off to a hot start.
I expect Banchero to be nervous for his first NBA game, especially on the road, and for Cade Cunningham to get the better of this matchup between #1 picks.
Even though these are two bad teams, both have exciting young talent and this game will tell us a lot about how they plan to use it.