The Detroit Pistons have been irrelevant for more than a decade now.
This once proud franchise has made it to the NBA playoffs just twice since 2010 and they bowed out in the first round on both occasions. These years of futility have led to some high draft picks, but the Pistons’ front office has had one of the worst NBA Draft track records in recent history.
The 2010 NBA season marked the first one in eight years that Detroit missed the postseason which gave them a lottery pick in the ensuing NBA Draft. The Pistons picked Greg Monroe eighth overall in the ensuing 2010 NBA Draft ahead of players such as Gordon Hayward and Paul George, kickstarting a string of poor draft choices that crippled the franchise.
Detroit picked bust after bust year in and year out, with only Andre Drummond, whose statistics far outweighed his impact on winning, ever making it to an NBA All-Star team.

In 2021, the Pistons finally lucked out and won the NBA Draft Lottery. In line with the consensus leading up to the draft, they picked Cade Cunningham first overall to begin a new era for the team. Cunningham battled several injuries over his first three years in the league as Detroit continued to struggle, causing him to fall under the radar.
This season though, Cunningham is finally healthy and he has taken this opportunity to remind the world of what he can do. The 23-year-old guard is averaging 24.9 points on 45.5% field goal shooting, 6.5 rebounds, and 9.4 assists midway through the season–all of which are career-high numbers. He looks strong and confident on the floor and has won over old school fans for his “ethical” brand of basketball.

Cunningham’s breakout season has pushed the Pistons not only out of the lottery, but right into the playoff hunt in the Eastern Conference. Detroit currently has a 23-22 win-loss record, good for sixth place and the last guaranteed postseason berth. They are in the midst of a tight race with the Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, and Miami Heat for this spot and anything can still happen, yet merely making it to the play-in tournament would already be a monumental win for this team.
The Pistons’ fans finally have something to cheer for the first time since their days of title contention in the 2000s. For the first time in decades, one can confidently say that the future is bright for this team. Cunningham is the undisputed leader of their talented core that also features Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, and Ausar Thompson.
There is still much work to be done before they can be considered even dark horse contenders for the NBA championship, though the framework that they have built is promising. The MotorCade is just getting started in the Motor City and it’s still not too late to hop on this bandwagon that just might be the next big thing.
