The calendar has turned to September. You know what that means, right?! Our offseason outlook series is back for the third-straight year!
Hot Hot Hoops senior writer Matt Hanifan will provide his take on the offseasons of all 30 teams for the next 30 days! We will be going in alphabetical order, beginning with the Eastern Conference. Today, we will look at the Detroit Pistons’ summer!
Previous offseason outlooks:
Evaluating the Detroit Pistons’ 2026 offseason:
Additions: John Collins, Isaiah Joe, Taurean Prince
Subtractions: Isaiah Stewart, Caris LeVert, Marcus Sasser
Re-signed: Javonte Green, Kevin Huerter
Draft: Ebuka Okorie (No. 17 overall), Ugonna Onyenso (No. 53)
Hanifan’s outlook: One year after improving their win total by 30 games, the Pistons took another gigantic 26-win leap last year, cracking the 60-win mark for the first time since 2005-06. The Pistons finished atop the East during the regular season, but a near scare to the Orlando Magic followed by a disappointing Game 7 against Cleveland in the East semis prematurely ended their season.
Detroit had one goal in mind this summer: Add shooting. Well, that probably wasn’t their only goal, but it was an important one nonetheless.
Mission accomplished. Finishing the season 17th in 3-point percentage with the second-worst 3-point attempt rate, Detroit added sharpshooter Isaiah Joe in a salary dump from the Oklahoma City Thunder. They also added John Collins, a respectable long-range threat, and Prince, who’s shot 40.5 percent from deep over the last five seasons.
That’s not to mention that I absolutely loved snagging Okorie at No. 17. He would have been talked about way more as a prospect if it wasn’t for how loaded the PG class was at the top. Although I do have some level of concern about his stylistic fit in Detroit alongside Cunningham.
Nevertheless, I am in on the player himself.
There’s still a cloud that hovers over Jalen Duren’s head in restricted free agency. My guess is the two sides agree to a new deal, but this has turned into a staring contest between both parties — like most “high” stakes restricted free agencies have. Duren fell off the cliff after a very encouraging regular season, so I am curious to see where the middle ground is, if there even is one.
Grade: B
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One of the few contenders that didn’t get better and got worse this summer IMO. They still have to make a big move at some point to add to this team.
Dunc is there. Contenders because of that, of course.
Top 6 maybe. Could be lower.
Yes, that sounds about right. This seems right at our level too. This is a quality team I think we could be just as good as. It’s going to be interesting trying to assess where Toronto and Indiana stand in these power rankings.
tor ind prob 4 5 could be 1 2 3.we saw what hali could do change turner for zubac might be better off.kawhis prob still a top 5 player when healthy.im happy dd didnt join him in toronto.east is a btch now
nyk phil mia tor ind boston det cleve atl orl thats my pecking order.think top 5 teams anyone could be in finals
I have it, Phil, NY, Clev, Ind, Det, Mia, Tor, Bos, Atl, Orl. Wins are going to be hard to come by. The rest of them, except possibly the Nets, are not pushovers either. It’s a good thing we got Giannis. In my opinion, we enter this year with last years team, even assuming they are all healthy, and we are lottery bound.
That’s the point. Two lottery picks, back to back, plus cash savings with no Herro, no Powell and probably no Wiggins, especially if they had been traded for younger players and picks by last deadline. Good foundation for a rebuild. Oh well. That ship has sailed. It is what it is.