In a league that’s sought to end the prevalence of superteams, that is to say star-laden rosters that are overwhelmingly dominant, the Detroit Pistons just concluded the type of season that inspires belief in that system.<\/p>\n
This isn’t exactly<\/em> new for NBA fans. Not even the ones that grew up watching Stephen Curry<\/a>‘s Golden State Warriors, LeBron James<\/a>‘s Miami Heat or Cleveland Cavaliers, or even the Brooklyn Nets’ tragic triumvirate of Kevin Durant<\/a>, James Harden<\/a>\u00a0and Kyrie Irving<\/a> were robbed of the opportunity to watch teams overcome the odds.<\/p>\n In spite of their success, there has rarely been a modernized team with an offense as flawed as the Pistons that climbed to the mountaintop. Yes, Detroit did technically have two All-Stars during their eye-opening 2025-26 campaign, with Cade Cunningham<\/a> and Jalen Duren<\/a> earning bids. Nonetheless, Cunningham is a certified offensive engine whereas Duren is more of a nitrous system<\/a>, boosting the Pistons’ power. With that being said, as everyone just saw, Cunningham needs way more help than he’s currently getting.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Just consider the fact that even Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander<\/a>, a freshly minted back-to-back MVP winner<\/a>, had to rely on his team’s depth to make it past the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round. Though the Thunder did sweep the Lakers, SGA looked mortal. If teammates Chet Holmgren<\/a>, Ajay Mitchell<\/a> and Jared McCain<\/a> hadn’t stepped up, maybe Los Angeles wins (at least one<\/a>).<\/p>\n Keeping that perspective, the Pistons will have the 21st overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, by way of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Barring a trade, this is the only selection that they’ll have this year. Consequently, the pick is even more important than it seems on the surface. Detroit doesn’t have<\/em> to get it right but to bite off of Eminem, ‘they only get one shot, they cannot miss their chance to blow.’<\/p>\n Best Scorer Available<\/strong><\/p>\n Watching the Pistons struggle to generate easy baskets against the Cleveland Cavaliers in their elimination game<\/a> was sickening. They looked like roadkill. Cunningham was indeed taken out of his game, as evidenced by his unforgettably forgettable stat line (13 points on 5-16 shooting from the field, five assists to three turnovers). However, the worst part was that nobody was really there to pick up the slack.<\/p>\n Duren had seven points on seven shots<\/a>. 15-year veteran Tobias Harris<\/a> has seniority and Pistons head coach JB Bickerstaff’s respect but he would’ve been better off not clocking into work the way he played; in 23 minutes, the veteran forward scored five points (though he didn’t make a single basket). Second-year guard Daniss Jenkins<\/a> did have a team-high 17 points but nine of them were scored in the fourth quarter, when they were playing more for pride than a win.<\/p>\n So, with the No. 21 pick, the Pistons’ best option is to get the top iso scorer. The caveat is that said prospect would preferably be an efficient 3-point threat since Detroit’s core consists of several untrustworthy outside shooters. Among the prospects that project to be available when they’re on the clock, Arkansas freshman guard Meleek Thomas<\/a>, who rained in 41.6% of his 3s in 2025-26, fits that description the most cleanly<\/a>. Duke sophomore wing Isaiah Evans<\/a> is another prospect to strongly consider, though he’s more likely to score off of spot-ups<\/a> than 1-on-1.<\/p>\n Dipping Into The UDFA Pool<\/strong><\/p>\n Unfortunately for the Pistons, their offensive woes are so profound that they need to dip into the undrafted free agent pool as well. Among the prospects that may find themselves skipped over<\/a> in the 2026 NBA Draft. SMU senior guard Jaron Pierre Jr.<\/a>, Texas Tech senior wing Donovan Atwell<\/a>, Wisconsin junior guard John Blackwell<\/a>, Kentucky senior wing Otega Oweh<\/a>, and Indiana senior guard Lamar Wilkerson<\/a> are ideal perimeter targets.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After draft season, the Pistons can turn their full attention to their current roster.<\/p>\n Not counting the college prospect(s) they’ll add, there will be 10 players under contract, including Cunningham and Jenkins. Unless they make the foolish choice of re-signing him for that same number, Harris’ $26.6 million contract will mercifully no longer be on their books. However, neither will Duren’s, with the 2022 lottery pick needing to sign a contract extension<\/a> to remain in Detroit. As Duren’s extension is more or less the focus around the water cooler, there’s no doubt that the Pistons are already trying to make the dollars make sense. Yet, following a disastrous postseason run that put his true value in question, Duren will be negotiating with less leverage than he would have had last month.<\/p>\n Ultimately, Detroit and Duren should be expected to maintain their partnership. Although he let his team down with his performance, it’s too early to give up on the 22-year-old. Ideally, he’ll grow from the experience and continue to fortify his chemistry with Cunningham. Keep in mind that Duren received a team-high 28.8% of his passes<\/a> from Cunningham. Meanwhile, 11.0% of Cunningham’s passes went to Duren, the fifth-highest mark<\/a> on the team.<\/p>\n Kevin Huerter<\/a>, Javonte Green<\/a>, and Tolu Smith<\/a> are the Pistons’ other impending free agents. Acquired as part of the Jaden Ivey<\/a> deal, Huerter had not been living up to his reputation as a marksman until the playoffs. However, he was only able to play one game against Cleveland in the Eastern Conference semifinals due to an adductor strain. As a result, it’s hard to believe Detroit is pressed to bring the 27-year-old back, especially depending on his price and the prospect they draft. On the other hand, Green and Smith are useful or seldom used players that could be convinced to re-sign on minimum contracts.<\/p>\n Priority Signing<\/strong><\/p>\n So far as the free agent market goes, nothing has changed; the Pistons’ focus should be veteran depth and proven shooters. Armed with the $15 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception and the $5.5 million bi-annual exception, they should be able to acquire two rotation-level pieces. The first order of business should be replacing Harris. Even if he remains on the roster, he can’t remain in the starting lineup. Due to his subpar defense, neither can Duncan Robinson<\/a>, even though he was one of Detroit’s unsung heroes during the postseason.<\/p>\n Beyond the shadow of a doubt, Los Angeles Lakers impending free agent Rui Hachimura<\/a> is the top free agent option. He may be outside of their price range after making $17 million in 2025-26. However, he wouldn’t be the first player to leave some money on the table. Given how he was utilized by the Lakers, a more expansive role (such as being an offensive focal point) could be enough to sway him. Having firmly established himself as one of the most efficient playoff shooters<\/a> in history, he’s exactly who they need to replace Harris.<\/p>\n Even after signing Hachimura, finding another wing that complements Ausar Thompson<\/a> and Ron Holland<\/a> will take precedence. It’s too easy to argue that having more floor balance would’ve made Bickerstaff more comfortable putting Holland on the floor. Of course, that player could always be one of the aforementioned undrafted free agents. However, if they use their bi-annual exception, Cavs impending free agents Dean Wade<\/a> and Keon Ellis<\/a> are experienced 3-and-D players.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Following those moves, this is how the Pistons’ depth chart could look in 2026-27:<\/p>\n Cade Cunningham, Daniss Jenkins, Marcus Sasser<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Meleek Thomas, Keon Ellis, Chaz Lanier<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland, Javonte Green<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Rui Hachimura, Duncan Robinson, Tolu Smith<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Paul Reed<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n If their offseason was to shake out like this, they would undoubtedly be in a better position than they were just in. Huerter will have been replaced by Ellis, a better defender who has been more consistent from 3, though not more prolific. Hachimura supplants Harris in the starting lineup, providing the first unit with better reliability. However, Harris doesn’t return, his leadership and experience not outweighing Holland’s defensive excellence or Robinson’s effective 3-ball.<\/p>\n Players under two-way contracts could include the likes of Wilkerson and Atwell, who could very well outplay those deals.<\/p>\n The kicker is that even after all of that, the Pistons could still attempt a trade for Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen<\/a>, Brooklyn Nets forward Michael Porter Jr.<\/a> or New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III<\/a>. Detroit’s been linked to them for months<\/a> and where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. If they were to prioritize one, it wouldn’t come down to affordability, as both the Jazz and Pelicans are revving to price gouge. However, Murphy is a more fluid athlete and needs a little less help creating offense for himself. He also has more defensive upside.<\/p>\n If the Pistons are unable to sign Hachimura, they could become desperate enough to mortgage their future in an effort to seize the day. To that point, not only would they likely have to give up a starter for one of those forwards but draft picks as well. Thus, it might be wiser to target a player like Denver Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson<\/a>. With the Nuggets looking to avoid the tax<\/a>, Detroit’s non-guaranteed contracts and team options have appeal.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In a league that’s sought to end the prevalence of superteams, that is to say star-laden rosters that are overwhelmingly dominant, the Detroit Pistons just concluded the type of season that inspires belief in that system. This isn’t exactly new for NBA fans. Not even the ones that grew up watching Stephen Curry‘s Golden State […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":196023,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,20,10,2,62,556,4721],"tags":[49942,3965,1899,1804,50237,4432,4624,50464,297,4557,1749,343],"class_list":["post-196009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nuggets","category-pistons","category-featured","category-nba","category-nba-draft","category-trade-rumors","tag-2026-nba-draft","tag-cade-cunningham","tag-cameron-johnson","tag-dean-wade","tag-isaiah-evans","tag-jalen-duren","tag-keon-ellis","tag-meleek-thomas","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-offseason","tag-rui-hachimura","tag-tobias-harris"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=196009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":196024,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/196009\/revisions\/196024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/196023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=196009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=196009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=196009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}What Should The Detroit Pistons Do In The 2026 Offseason?<\/h2>\n
2026 NBA Draft<\/h3>\n
Free Agency<\/h3>\n
Additional Moves<\/h3>\n