The JB Bickerstaff era begins with Cade Cunningham, veteran shooters, and plenty of question marks
Basketball, today? Featuring the Detroit Pistons ? On ESPN no less. Preseason action kicks off and we have finally cleansed ourselves of the dirt and grime of everything we experienced last year. The franchise has a new leader in the front office in Trajan Langdon, a new head coach in JB Bickerstaff, and plenty of new faces that, if nothing else, feel at least a bit more reliable than the hodgepodge mix of non-shooting young players and non-defending (and not healthy) veterans of last season.
But the source of gravity remains the same as ever — this is Cade Cunningham’s team. The quest this offseason was to surround him with a real team, and a real coach invested in bringing the best out of his young players.
Game Vitals
When: 8 p.m. ET
Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan
Watch: ESPN
Odds: Get help
Analysis
For the Pistons, gone are names like Killian Hayes, James Wiseman, Isaiah Livers, and Monte Morris. In are Tobias Harris, Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Paul Reed. Also returning, to the surprise of many, are several of the young players responsible for last year’s franchise-low 14 wins.
The big man duo of Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart are back, but this time, instead of starting in a jumbo front court, they will both be manning the center position. One providing size and rim gravity (Duren), and the other defense and spacing (Stewart). Back is the beleaguered Jaden Ivey. Now, instead of camping out in the corner and taking and missing a large number of threes, he seems poised to have the ball in his hands more and a more aggressive stagger in and out of the lineup with Cunningham.
Ausar Thompson is also back, but he still has not been cleared for a full return to action after dealing with a blood clot issue late last season.
We will see how everything shakes out, but I imagine in this first preseason game, we will get a serious look at how Bickerstaff plans to use these new pieces — particularly Harris and Beasley.
The latter will be facing off against his former team in the Milwaukee Bucks . The Bucks are pretty much in tact from how they looked a season ago. They are still led by all-NBA forward Giannis Antetokoumpo, Damian Lillard, Brook Lopez, and Khris MIddleton.
Projected Lineups
Detroit Pistons (0-0)
Cade Cunningham, Malik Beasley, Simone Fontecchio, Tobias Harris, Jalen Duren
Milwaukee Bucks (0-0)
Damian Lillard, Gary Trent, Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez
Question of the Game
Who the heck should start for the Pistons (assuming Ausar Thompson is healthy)?