Before the season, I made some optimistic predictions about the Detroit Pistons, many of which look to be playing out.
I predicted the Pistons to be the surprise good team in the Eastern Conference and for the 76ers to be the surprise bad one (nice job me).
I thought that Cade Cunningham would make the All-Star team (pending) and that Jaden Ivey would finish in the top-5 of the Most Improved Player voting, which was looking good until he unfortunately got hurt. Now, Cunningham is the frontrunner for that award.
I said that Ron Holland II would make the All-Rookie team (maybe) and that for the first time in ages, the Pistons would add talent at the deadline, something that is looking more likely by the day.
I did think the Pistons would win 30+ games, as everything that could have gone wrong last season did, they were hampered by injuries, a terrible supporting cast, an in-over-his-head GM and a coach who bombed, all which changed in the offseason.
All of those looked like Homer predictions in the preseason, and they were, as I am a Homer. You would have gotten great odds on any of those bets, which is wild now that you look where the Pistons are in the standings and in the betting odds.
Detroit Pistons: NBA standings, wins, playoffs and postseason awards
After beating Atlanta last night, the Pistons moved into the 6th seed in the East, a place no one would have predicted with January 2025 nearly in the books.
They are sitting on 23 wins with just under half the season left to play, near the full-season total most betting sites had them before the season.
FanDuel has now set the over/under for wins at 40.5, a total that not one human on planet earth would have bet the over on before the season.
Cade Cunningham is the frontrunner for MIP at –160 and it won’t be long before he’s getting odds on MVP, which I never would have predicted. I did think Cunningham would make a leap but he’s been a top-10 player in the league this season and has a serious argument for All-NBA if this continues.
The Pistons are now –108 to make the playoffs (this means the sharps are saying they likely will make it) and –600 to at least make the play-in tournament.
Prior to the season, they were one of the frontrunners to land Cooper Flagg on betting sites, but as of right now, wouldn’t even have their pick, as it would be 18th and go to Minnesota.
And something that doesn’t show up in the odds is how much fun this team was to watch. Sure, they make hair-pulling mistakes at times, but they play hard, get after it on defense, share the ball and seem to have genuine chemistry.
This season has been an unexpected joy for us long-suffering fans who were dying for something to cheer for.
There is a lot of season left to play, and that 6th seed in the East is precarious, as there are plenty of teams bunched around it, but as of right now, the Pistons are one of the best stories in basketball and outplaying even this Homer’s wildest expectations.