The Detroit Pistons were the most surprising story of the NBA last season, going from the worst team in the league to the 6th seed, a position they hope to improve upon next year behind All-NBA guard Cade Cunningham and development from their rising stars.
The Pistons and Knicks played one of the best series of the entire playoffs, and the Pistons got valuable experience that they hope to use to make a deeper run next season.
Jumping into the top four in the Eastern Conference is a possibility, as there have been unfortunate injuries in Boston and Indiana that could open the window for the Pistons, but there are also teams like Orlando and Atlanta that figure to be better next season to go along with Milwaukee, Cleveland and New York.
ESPN recently ranked the Pistons 11th in their NBA Power Rankings, which would put them 4th in the East, as only Cleveland (4), New York (5) and Orlando (8) made the top 10 from the lesser conference. The West is once again predicted to be the stronger conference, but that offers no guarantee that the Pistons will have home-court advantage in the playoffs.
The Detroit Pistons have plenty of questions to answer
What we saw last season was real and there is no reason the Pistons can’t build upon it. But given it was their first playoffs as a group and they didn’t even have Jaden Ivey or Isaiah Stewart, this team is still in evaluation mode when it comes to their young core.
They also lost a big chunk of their 3-point shooting and culture when they didn’t bring back Malik Beasley (pending), Tim Hardaway Jr., or Dennis Schroder.
Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert should be beneficial trade-offs in some ways, but it’s a lot to assume these guys will be able to re-create the impact of the veterans they lost.
Winning also comes with expectations and opponents aren’t going to be caught off guard by the Pistons next season, as they’ve gotten plenty of attention and will now have a target on their backs, at least from the teams that were chasing them in the standings last season.
The East is wide open, but it might be a tad premature to pencil in the Pistons for a top-four spot, as there will still be plenty of competition. Putting the Pistons ahead of Milwaukee, who has dominated them for years, and even Boston, who will be dangerous even without Jayson Tatum, could be overhyping a young team that still has to prove its winning ways are sustainable.