Detroit Pistons: 3 teams that could defy expectations next season

Detroit Pistons: 3 teams that could defy expectations next season

The Detroit Pistons could surprise some people

Reasons they will defy expectations: Cade Cunningham is going to be a star, the Monty Williams’ effect and some low-key offseason additions that will help

You won’t find too many people outside of the Detroit faithful who think the Pistons are going to contend for anything next season but another lottery pick and they might be right. Detroit didn’t make a splashy addition, and as a team that won 17 games last season, they need to improve pretty much everywhere.

Enter Cade Cunningham.

Cunningham has gotten plenty of positive press for his play on the select team and his offseason health, but we could see him turn into a star next season. Without him, the young Pistons struggled on both ends last season, as he is the nucleus of the team and when you remove Cade, it’s just a bunch of particles floating around.

Cade is going to make life easier for everyone else and new head coach Monty Williams not only has a record of improving terrible teams, but of getting the most out of dynamic guards, so Cunningham is in great hands.

He’ll have a better offensive system and more weapons around him in Bojan Bogdanovic, Monte Morris, Alec Burks and Joe Harris, who will allow Detroit to play lineups that will unlock Cade’s strengths.

Ausar Thompson is going to make an immediate impact on defense and Detroit finally has a roster that has the right mixture of young and veteran talent. They still have the roster space and ammo to make another trade, so if they perform well early on, more reinforcements could be coming.

It’s not hard to defy expectations when people don’t have any, and that’s where we are with the Detroit Pistons, who could double their win total and still not make the play-in. But don’t be surprised if some things fall into place with Cade Cunningham leading the way and the Pistons end up closer to the play-in than people might think.