NBA postseason awards generally go to players who are on good, or at least competitive teams, which is why it’s been some time since anyone on the Detroit Pistons has won one.
This year could finally be different, as the Pistons own the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference and have a chance to make the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
The odds for postseason awards reflect their unlikely surge this season and there is a good chance the Pistons will walk home with a few of them.
Let’s start with Executive of the Year, for which Trajan Langdon must be a frontrunner. There are no odds for this award, but given he has his team in the playoff hunt after winning just 14 games last season, he has to be in the running.
Langdon found the right veterans, found the right coach, and his young team is ahead of schedule.
But he won’t be the only one on the Pistons with a chance at an award.
All odds come from FanDuel.
Cade Cunningham: Most Improved Player odds
Cade Cunningham is currently the frontrunner for Most Improved Player, and I’m not sure how I feel about that, as he was already really good but just needed some better teammates.
There are some who feel this award should be reserved for a player that comes out of nowhere or makes a leap from irrelevant to impact, not one who was the consensus #1 pick.
But making the leap from good to superstar is arguably the most difficult one to make and given that Cade’s play is the primary reason for his team’s improvement, it makes sense.
Cunningham is currently a –115 favorite to win the award, ahead of Norman Powell (+110).
Malik Beasley: 6th Man of the Year odds
No award relies on team success more than this one, as they aren’t giving it to a 6th man who comes off the bench for a bad team.
That’s why Payton Pritchard (-160) is the current frontrunner even though De’Andre Hunter (+300) and Malik Beasley (+600) are both arguably having better seasons.
Beasley has already set the Pistons’ team record for 3’s made in a season, is 2nd in the league overall and is on pace to have one of the five best shooting seasons in the history of the league.
Beasley is trying to become just the 4th player in NBA history to hit 300+ from long range in a season, joining Steph Curry (who has done it five times), Klay Thompson and James Harden.
If he accomplishes this, while scoring more points on similar shooting numbers as Pritchard, and the Pistons make the playoffs, Beasley should win this award, but I fear it’s already sewn up for Pritchard.
JB Bickerstaff: Coach of the Year odds
JB Bickerstaff currently has the third-best odds at CoY at a long shot +1500 which seems insane to me considering the context.
Kenny Atkinson (-700) is the clear frontrunner, and to be fair, he’s done an amazing job taking an already good team and turning them into a great one.
But what Bickerstaff has done is arguably more impressive, as he has taken a historically bad team, one that was mired in a miserable losing culture and completely turned it around.
After being at the bottom of the league in everything for years, coach Bickerstaff has the Pistons 12th in defense and 15th in offense, huge leaps on both sides of the ball. He’s built a rotation and stuck with it, helping the development of his young guys by establishing clear roles.
Maybe most importantly, he has his team believing in him and each other, a tall task after the shambles Monty Williams left him with.
Atkinson is going to win this award, but you can’t be anything but impressed with the way Bickerstaff has completely rebooted the Pistons culture.