Detroit keeps its 60-win core and bets Cade Cunningham can finish the job

The Detroit Pistons were the best regular-season team in the East last year, and they kept almost all of it. Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson are back. Tobias Harris is not, and John Collins arrives from the LA Clippers. The question for 2026-27 is not whether Detroit is good. It is whether a team this good can get past the kind of series that ended its season.

Last season was a big one. Detroit went 60-22, finished 1st in the East and outscored opponents by eight points per 100 possessions, a contender's margin. It played 14 playoff games before the Cleveland Cavaliers beat it in a series that went the distance, four games to three. Close, painful, and the kind of loss that shows a team exactly how far it still has to go.

Detroit's lineup mostly stayed together. Cade Cunningham missed 18 of the team's 82 games, Paul Reed 17 and Jalen Duren 12. Detroit went 39-16 in 55 games with Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson and Jalen Duren all in the lineup. In the other 27 it went 21-6.

What changed

Harris is the loss that matters. He played 63 games at 27.8 minutes before leaving for the San Antonio Spurs, and graded above average at 1.66. He was a steady, positive presence, and his minutes now need a new owner.

The rest of the departures read like housecleaning. Isaiah Stewart (Memphis Grizzlies) graded at -1.06 in 22.7 minutes, Caris LeVert (Milwaukee Bucks) at -1.68 in 19.2, and Jaden Ivey at -0.72 in 33 games. Marcus Sasser, now with the Dallas Mavericks, was a small positive at 0.44 in 12 minutes a night. Losing minutes like Stewart's and LeVert's could even help.

Collins is the biggest name coming in, and the most uncertain one. He gave the Clippers 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 27.1 minutes over 69 games, but graded below average at -0.57. Isaiah Joe looks like the better addition: 11.1 points in 21.2 minutes for the Oklahoma City Thunder, with a 2.56. Taurean Prince (Milwaukee, 0.35) and Elijah Harkless (Utah Jazz, -0.62) add depth. In all, 73% of last season's minutes return.

Cade's team

Cade Cunningham runs everything. He averaged 23.9 points, 9.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 33.9 minutes, and our impact rating had him well above average at 4.35, the best mark in this core. Put simply, Detroit was more than four points per 100 possessions better with him than with an average player.

What makes Detroit dangerous is that he is not alone. Ausar Thompson (4.24) and Jalen Duren (4.19) graded almost as well. Duren put up 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 28.2 minutes over 70 games; Thompson gave 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 26 minutes over 73. Three regulars who each add about four points per 100 possessions make a strong foundation.

Duncan Robinson chipped in 12.2 points in 27.4 minutes over 77 games with a 2.46, and Kevin Huerter (10 points in 22.4 minutes, 1.26) is another positive piece.

The bright spot: Paul Reed

The number that jumps out belongs to a backup. Paul Reed played only 13.8 minutes a night, but his rating of 4.04 sat right next to those of Cunningham, Thompson and Duren, built on 7.8 points and 4.5 rebounds.

Javonte Green tells a similar story. He played all 82 games at 17.6 minutes and graded at 2.51. Detroit's bench was not just filling minutes; it was winning them. If Reed can handle a bigger role now that Stewart is gone, the frontcourt gets better without a single new face.

The worries

Health first. Cunningham played 64 games. Every number in this preview leans on him, and a long absence would test a roster that runs through his 9.9 assists.

Then the frontcourt. Collins is the obvious candidate for Harris's minutes, and his -0.57 is a step down from Harris's 1.66. Ronald Holland II played 78 games at 19.8 minutes and sat just below average (-0.15); he will need to grow to make up the difference.

Three rookies, Brice Williams, Ebuka Okorie and Ugonna Onyenso, round out the roster, and Detroit has nobody on the injury report. That is a quiet advantage for a team with these hopes.

Bottom line

Our roster model ranks Detroit 2nd of 30 and projects about 55 wins, fewer than last season's 60 but still near the top of the league. It is a paper estimate, and paper has been wrong before. If Cunningham stays healthy and Joe and Reed play bigger roles, the Pistons can beat it. If Collins plays like his number and the frontcourt thins out, they will not.

The first test comes on Tuesday, October 20, at 3:00 PM ET, at home against the Boston Celtics.