The Detroit Pistons’ 2024 portion of their 2024-25 season has concluded, and things look drastically different from last season.
Through 32 games, they’ve matched their win total (14) from 2023-24. Cade Cunningham appears to be on the verge of becoming a young star, Malik Beasley is one of the NBA’s best 3-point shooters and the Pistons are in the Play-In Tournament race in the Eastern Conference.
There’s a lot to unpack from these first 32 games. Let’s take stock of where things stand. Here are seven Pistons observations as 2025 begins.
Cade Cunningham’s development
Cunningham’s growth is the most glaring development of the Pistons’ season so far.
No Piston has ever averaged 24 points, 9.7 assists and 6.7 rebounds per game in a season, but that’s what Cunningham is on track to do. The 23-year-old guard is averaging career bests in points, assists, rebounds, 3-point percentage and 3-point attempts and seems headed toward arguably the most well-rounded season a Pistons player has ever had.
Cunningham’s six triple-doubles trail only Nikola Jokić (13) and LeBron James (eight). He leads his 2021 draft class in assists, he’s third in the class in points and he’s seventh in rebounds. Alperen Şengün, Franz Wagner, Scottie Barnes and Jalen Johnson are the only players from the 2021 class to be top 10 in points, rebounds and assists.
Of that group, Cunningham has the highest 3-point percentage. His pull-up 3s have been a new wrinkle to his NBA game, coupled with a high level of efficiency. He looked more comfortable doing so in college, but this season, Cunningham is up to 38.1 percent on pull-up triples. That’s a huge asset to a 6-foot-6 point guard to keep defenders honest.
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Cade Cunningham’s growth helping Pistons to forget ‘quiet plane rides’ of last season
Future Hall of Famers and people Cunningham grew up watching are acknowledging he’s on the brink of stardom and could be heading toward his first All-Star bid. He’s also the key ingredient in the Pistons’ turnaround from an NBA single-season losing record to matching their win total from last season in 51 fewer games.
For all the good Cunningham has done this season, however, he is still top three in the league in turnovers behind Trae Young and James Harden. To a certain degree, any player with the ball in their hands as much as these three will be more susceptible to turning it over. Harden, for example, is seventh in the league in assists and first giveaways. Young is first in assists and second in turnovers.
Despite that, Cunningham is still having a career season, and this could be his version of a third-year leap, considering Cunningham only got 12 games under his belt during his second season due to a stress fracture in his tibia and has only played 166 of the Pistons’ 278 regular-season games since he was drafted.
If he’s this good this early, what can his ceiling be? It’s hard to tell, especially when Cunningham views himself as limitless.
Jaden Ivey’s redemption arc
After an overall turbulent year under Monty Williams, Jaden Ivey is the best version of himself we’ve seen in the NBA.
Similar to Cunningham, Ivey is posting career highs across the board, in points, rebounds, steals, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and 3-point attempts. But for Ivey, the catch-and-shoot 3 has helped unlock his offensive game as a whole.
Ivey is hitting his catch-and-shoot 3s at a 42.5 percent clip. By becoming more of a threat from downtown, defenders are consequently forced to apply more pressure on Ivey at the 3-point line. But his speed allows him to blow past defenders for floaters, midrange jumpers and attempts at the rim. His 48.8 percent shooting on 2-point attempts is the best of his young career.
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Jaden Ivey’s game-winner shows his growing confidence for suddenly surging Pistons
Lingering left knee pain sidelined Ivey for a couple games, and before missing time, Ivey had his worst stretch of the season. It was apparent he wasn’t his usual, explosive self, but in four games since returning from injury, Ivey has averaged 18.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists on 56.9 percent and 55 percent from 3-point range.
For as much as Ivey went through last season, while being only 21 years old for the majority of it, he’s beginning to look like a formidable backcourt mate alongside Cunningham.
New faces not meeting expectations
Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. have flat-out underperformed expectations this season. Harris’ 12.7 points per game would be his fewest since his second season in 2012-13. Hardaway’s 10 points per game would be his worst since his third season. Hardaway is nearly shooting his career average from downtown, but Harris’ 3-point percentage is below his career mark.
Both players were brought in largely for their 3-point prowess, and their stats are more jarring considering Malik Beasley (more on him below) comes off the bench and averages 16.7 points on what would be a career-best 41.8 percent shooting from 3.
Beasley has started just eight games, whereas Hardaway and Harris have each started every game they’ve played in this season. Despite that consistent playing time, Harris is only taking 11.1 shot attempts per game, his lowest mark since his second season. Hardaway’s 7.9 shot attempts per game are his fewest since his third season.
At least for Harris, he can back his way into the post, shoot turnaround jumpers or get to the free-throw line. Hardaway is far too one dimensional as a scorer, as 5.3 of his shot attempts per game come from 3, and his 3-point shooting is not dynamic enough for him to shoot this poorly from the one area in which he’s supposed to thrive.
Detroit’s success this season hinges on Harris’ and Hardaway’s success almost as much as any other two players on this roster. They must find a way to diversify their scoring and ultimately up their overall offensive production for Detroit to reach its full potential.
Malik Beasley celebrates a double-overtime NBA Cup win over the Heat earlier this season. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)
Speaking of Beasley…
The guard arguably has been the brightest spot in Detroit not named Cunningham.
Aside from the post-3-point shimmies and the competitive nature he brings to the locker room, Beasley is the most prolific shooter the franchise has seen since Saddiq Bey in 2021-22. Bey made a career-high and franchise-record 211 triples that season. Entering Tuesday, Beasley was tied with Anthony Edwards (125) for the most 3s in the NBA this season.
Beasley has 50 games to make 87 more 3s if he wants to pass Bey for the team record. Beasley is averaging 3.9 makes on 9.3 attempts per game from behind the arc. The Florida State product is on pace for 200 more 3s, which would shatter Bey’s record and put him in first place by more than 100 makes.
I mentioned Beasley’s locker room presence, and that can’t be understated. Especially behind the scenes, he does a great job of keeping his teammates upbeat. He’s always the one prompting shooting competitions in practices. Although he’s just 28 years old, he’s the perfect blend of a young veteran with enough NBA experience for his voice to hold weight.
Beasley was in the 3-point contest last All-Star Weekend, and, though he didn’t win, he’s expressed interest in participating again in San Francisco this February. Detroit signed Beasley for a steal of a contract, too, bringing him in on a one-year, $6 million deal that he’s in the process of significantly outplaying.
Evaluating Jalen Duren
Jalen Duren is another starter underperforming this season based on his numbers from his sophomore campaign. Last season, when rounding up, he averaged 14 points on 62 percent shooting and 12 rebounds as a 20-year-old, so it was only natural to expect Duren to keep progressing and improve on those stats as he matures.
Unfortunately for Duren and Pistons fans alike, that has not yet been the case. His numbers this season look more comparable to his rookie-season stats. And his defense has declined each year as well. Duren’s current defensive rating of 118 is the highest of his young career. On Detroit’s last road trip, when it went 3-1, Duren had a combined plus-minus of minus-34.
As the anchor of the defense at the center position, Duren has the second-lowest defensive rating of any Detroit starter behind Hardaway. Duren has particularly struggled in drop coverage, especially against opposing centers who can stretch the floor out to the 3-point line. Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff has reiterated their principles require their big men to be in the paint as often as possible.
But Duren has looked out of place in many situations defensively, and his effort has often looked lackluster, too. That effort has also led to a career high in fouls. Duren has six games this season in which he’s committed five or more fouls and has fouled out once.
All that said, it’s far too early to give up on Duren and his obvious potential. There aren’t many 21-year-old, 6-10, 250-pound centers with the physical attributes he has, if any beyond him. His play can be frustrating, but with Detroit’s other options at center in Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed, the Pistons can afford to be patient and allow Duren to come into his own.
Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland II show promise
At 6-6 with a 7-foot wingspan and listed at 215 pounds, how good Ausar Thompson can be is up to him. And, in terms of potential, rookie Ron Holland II isn’t too far behind Thompson.
Thompson is a product of Overtime Elite, and Holland played for G League Ignite before being drafted. Both were known for their ability to attack the rim, their athleticism and defensive upside, though neither is a great shooter (both shoot below 30 percent from 3-point range). Both also have also had challenges seeing extended minutes this season, but for different reasons.
Holland is averaging 16 minutes per game and has gone above that mark in just 13 of his 32 games this season. His best performance of the season came against the Boston Celtics after the game had already been decided, when he dropped 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting overall (and making 2 of 4 from 3) in the fourth quarter. Since then, he’s made strides to look even more comfortable on an NBA floor.
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Ron Holland II shows glimpses of player Pistons ‘know he is going to be’
As for Thompson, he missed Detroit’s first 18 games after his rookie season ended early due to issues with blood clots. He’s progressing slowly, but it seems like once a game he shows flashes of the insane athletic upside he has. In the Pistons’ last game against the Denver Nuggets, Thompson put Peyton Watson in a blender with a Tim Hardaway Sr.-like crossover, dunked on Watson then gave his bench a stare after the slam in a rare show of emotion.
We’re just gonna leave this here… https://t.co/FU3b7FmHSP pic.twitter.com/aGQO8j55vv
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) December 29, 2024
Thompson’s best game of the season came earlier in December in a win over the Miami Heat. He finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and four steals — all season highs.
Despite their jumpers not translating into high percentages just yet, both Thompson and Holland work with Pistons shooting coach Fred Vinson daily. With more in-game reps and confidence, I’d be surprised if at least one of the two doesn’t blossom into at least an average 3-point shooter. Jumpers aside, they could grow into an interesting duo of two-way wings with elite athleticism and defensive ability.
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Tracking Ausar Thompson’s day on his best game of season
Latest on rookie Bobi Klintmn
Rookie Bobi Klintman had an odd start to his NBA career.
Klintman played in five summer-league games for the Pistons and averaged 11.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists on 41.9 percent from 3-point range. Then, a calf contusion delayed the start to his rookie season.
Klintman has yet to play NBA minutes, but he was assigned to the G League’s Motor City Cruise in December. The 21-year-old wing posted 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting (made 4 of 6 from 3), five rebounds and four assists in a win in his second game in the G League.
Bobi Klintman had a career-high night! The @DetroitPistons draftee scored a career-high 25 points on 69% shooting to help lead the @MotorCityCruise to victory. 🚢 pic.twitter.com/KP2SjrP3I9
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) December 31, 2024
People within the organization are eager for Klintman to reach full strength and be with the Pistons full time, but they’re in no rush to push Klintman back ahead of schedule.
At 6-9 and 225 pounds, Klintman can potentially help Thompson and Holland round out the offensive side of a potential wing trio. While Klintman may be better suited as a rotational piece rather than a starter, he also has legit upside as a shooter with size. He’s also shown himself to be an innate cutter with a good feel for open space on the floor.
He’s another interesting piece of Detroit’s puzzle who has had a delayed introduction to the NBA due to injury. Keep an eye on his development. The skill set is there.
(Top photo: Rocky Widner / NBAE via Getty Images)
