Will Detroit make an all-in trade to solidify title contender status?
No team has had a surprising start to the 2025-26 NBA season than the Detroit Pistonswho are currently 13-2 and have won 11 straight games after Tuesday night’s road win against the Atlanta Hawks. Cade Cunningham returned from injury in that game to score 25 points, and overall, Detroit has shown its depth all year so far.
With the hot start, some are wondering whether or not the Pistons might try to push all their chips into the middle of the standings this year in hopes of making a real push for a deep playoff run.
Recently, ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill broke down the Pistons line of thinking in that regard.
“There’s an internal desire to see this group together before the fast-forward button is hit, but ownership, sources told ESPN, isn’t afraid of a big commitment if the front office comes up with a proposal,” Goodwill reports.
Meanwhile, ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted that “The Pistons control their own first-round pick in each of the next seven years, are allowed to trade up to four of them and can be traded each year. Detroit also has 14 second-rounders it can use in deals. Financially, the Pistons cost $26.2 million and can be moderately under the first-round salary cap. deals”.
It’s certainly a desirable position to be on a team that suddenly looks like it could be a real contender in the East.
Skeptics will point to the Pistons’ lack of shot creation around Cade Cunningham (especially with Jaden Ivey out with injury), as well as their overall lack of deep playoff experience, as reasons why the team may still not be the favorite in the East, despite their record.
However, if they continue on their winning ways, it will become harder and harder to deny what is happening.
2025-11-20 17:53:00
