Detroit Pistons Offseason: 2026

[NYLion]

41 minutes ago, buddha said:

which is why they should have traded duren while they had the chance.

i just think they've been outmaneuvered by other teams and the targets they wanted (reeves, kyrie, kawahi) didnt want to come here.  now they have to make ausar/duren fit and the only way to do that is to hope for internal improvement from both of them.

but collins and joe will help with spacing.  offensively that will help a lot.  defense?  not so much...

Kawhi is the only one that didn't want to come to Detroit as far as we know. Dallas was never trading Kyrie and the Lakers simply outbid the Pistons to keep Reaves. 

That's essentially it like you said, the Pistons improvement will have to come internally. Personally I don't see the offensive upside in Duren and Ausar (I think they pretty much are what they are at this point) so Holland is the guy with some offensive growth potential, we've seen incremental improvements in his three point shooting and he just seems to have the skillset to expand his offensive game eventually so he's the player that could raise the Pistons ceiling although I do think it's a longshot that Holland becomes THAT guy.

I just don't see it coming from outside because, one, I don't see Langdon being the type of GM willing to part with enough assets to bring in an impact player and, two, cap flexibility is pretty much shot once Duren and Ausar get extended which seems inevitable on both fronts despite the posturing from Duren and his camp.

Edited July 28 by NYLion

[gehringer_2]

4 minutes ago, NYLion said:

Holland is the guy with some offensive growth potential, we've seen incremental improvements in his three point shooting and he just seems to have the skillset to expand his offensive game eventually so he's the player that could raise the Pistons ceiling although I do think it's a longshot that Holland becomes THAT guy.

Yeah- - it's possible that in Holland's case some D and some O ends up being a better total than Ausar's all D - especially if Thompson's extreme athleticism starts fading before an extension runs its course. They need a breakthrough somewhere - either Thompson or Duren shooting or Holland (or someone else) all around. Thing is none of those three seem very likely. I guess I'd have to rate Duren's shooting as the best but still slim chance.

[buddha]

i dont see anything from ron holland other than a defensive bench presence.  that's it.  a poor man's thybulle.

ausar is on track to be a perimeter ben wallace.  him and cade should be the face of this team for the next 5-7 years.  

everything this team does should be built around cade and ausar working together on the court.  which is a big reason why i'm so skeptical of duren being a part of this team's future.

if you could deal duren for a rim protector and some draft capital, you'd be golden.

[gehringer_2]

8 hours ago, buddha said:

ausar is on track to be a perimeter ben wallace.  him and cade should be the face of this team for the next 5-7 years.  

The question is do you win a championship in today’s NBA with a perimeter Ben Wallace? Maybe the pistons will be the trend setter in the next big thing in NBA style of play. 

[Shinzaki]

You're not going to cover the perimeter with a single guy...too much space.  Wallace was a great defender in a limited area.  The perimeter is a vast expanse of opportunity for teams to avoid Thompson..like the Cavs did in game 7.

Holland def showed improvement shooting the three late in the season.  If he can build on that...and he's only 21...he would be a more effective overall player than either Thompson or Duren

[gehringer_2]

27 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

You're not going to cover the perimeter with a single guy...too much space.  Wallace was a great defender in a limited area.  The perimeter is a vast expanse of opportunity for teams to avoid Thompson..like the Cavs did in game 7.

Holland def showed improvement shooting the three late in the season.  If he can build on that...and he's only 21...he would be a more effective overall player than either Thompson or Duren

the other thing is that Ben was powerful, and power plays into an athlete's middle years. If you build around a guy like Thompson who is all speed and slash how long does he maintain that level of athleticism? Maybe he does, but maybe he doesn't. If he comes down off his uber athlete peak and still has no offensive game? It's another risk factor in the equation. 

[buddha]

3 hours ago, Shinzaki said:

You're not going to cover the perimeter with a single guy...too much space.  Wallace was a great defender in a limited area.  The perimeter is a vast expanse of opportunity for teams to avoid Thompson..like the Cavs did in game 7.

Holland def showed improvement shooting the three late in the season.  If he can build on that...and he's only 21...he would be a more effective overall player than either Thompson or Duren

i'll eat del's hat if ron holland ever becomes a more effective overall player than ausar.

[Shinzaki]

Ketchup and mustard with that?

I tend to agree with the people who say Ausar's effectiveness will be limited as teams figure out how to deal with him and that any diminution is his athleticism will be costly to him

Edited July 28 by Shinzaki

[buddha]

53 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

Ketchup and mustard with that?

I tend to agree with the people who say Ausar's effectiveness will be limited as teams figure out how to deal with him and that any diminution is his athleticism will be costly to him

ron's going into year 3 and has shown little and was benched in the playoffs.  whereas ausar was drafted one year earlier and is now the best defender in the nba.

ausar changes the entire gameplan for the other team.  he's that good. 

by this time in his second season, ausar was already showing his amazing defensive skills, and was a big player in their series with the knicks.  in ron's second season, he was benched.

ron may have a chance to be a better shooter than ausar, of course.  but he'll never be the defender ausar is, and what little offense he provides (and its not much) doesnt come close to the defense ausar provides and the offense the pistons generate off that defense.

[Shinzaki]

Ausar will be the best defender if Wemby loses a limb

Give me a guy that can actually play the game well overall over a guy that relies on one skill set...especially when that guy has zero offensive game

[buddha]

well, you were wrong about jalen duren and youre wrong about ausar v ron holland.

[Shinzaki]

Part of Duren's issues stem from Ausar's issues...they're a matched set

 

[buddha]

3 minutes ago, Shinzaki said:

Part of Duren's issues stem from Ausar's issues...they're a matched set

 

duren's issues in the playoffs were less about ausar and more about duren's lack of ability.  

duren's lack of creation and offensive ability also hinders ausar, yet the pistons offense runs much better when ausar is in the game because his defense is so disruptive.  ausar moves on defense and offense, duren stands around and watches wendell carter jr beat him to rebounds.

my point is that ausar and duren dont compliment each other on offense but  ausar still finds a way to be a positive on offense and defense while duren turns into a bench warming negative as soon as any team can game plan for him.

[buddha]

if they dealt ron holland, i doubt we would notice on the floor.  at this point, he has a long way to go before the pistons think about picking up his option.  meanwhile ausar is about to be paid $30m+ per year.

there's a huge difference between the regular season and the playoffs.  duren and holland both found that out last year.

[Betrayer]

I can't believe we're discussing Ausar vs Ron. It's not even close. The Pistons organization knows it. Every GM in the league knows it. And anyone who's actually watched more than a few games knows it. If you were to put Ron on the trade block right now you'd get 2 second round picks. If you put Ausar on the trade block you'd have every GM in the league blowing up your phone.

Ausar bends the entire game when he's on the court. It's no coincidence that the team took off when he came back from his blood clot. He was third in DPOY voting behind two centers. He was first team all defense. The team is better on both offense and defense when he's on the court. Ron is a sparkplug defender off the bench who couldn't crack the playoff rotation. Those are facts.

Let's not be silly here. Cade and Ausar are the true core of this team. One of them is the offensive engine, the other is the defensive engine. You build around that while developing Ausar's offensive skillset (or get a coach with the brains to figure out you can just put him in the Draymond DHO hub role).

[gehringer_2]

if Ausar could get to Draymond’s shooting level this discussion would never happen.

when Ausar came back from injury, he was an upgrade from a 2nd rate player. On a team with real offensive depth or another 1st rate all-round player, you might be giving more up to put him on the floor than has ever been the case on the teams Ausar has played on so far. 

i don’t know that locking into Cade/Thompson is aiming high enough to do more than continuing to exit the playoffs in middle rounds. 

*If* they believe he can/will develop some shooting, then great but it’s no sure thing to commit big money to. 

[buddha]

draymond is a terrible long distance shooter, but he's a great passer and defender.  he also may not have been as great as he was if he were not playing with steph/klay.

i cant even believe were having this discussion on ausar.  ron holland, lol.

[Motor City Sonics]

I don't follow b-ball the way I used to because I don't like most of the players. 

The Pistons won 60 games.  Amazing.   Crapped out in the playoffs when Duren disappeared.  Okay, chalk it up to youth this time - it can't happen again. 

 

But now, after that amazing turnaround it looks like 75% of the roster has changed.     Are they better?    Hard to tell because even if the players are better we don't know if they'll fit well together.    Seems strange to overhaul a roster to this degree after having such an amazing season.  

[NYLion]

21 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

Yeah- - it's possible that in Holland's case some D and some O ends up being a better total than Ausar's all D - especially if Thompson's extreme athleticism starts fading before an extension runs its course. They need a breakthrough somewhere - either Thompson or Duren shooting or Holland (or someone else) all around. Thing is none of those three seem very likely. I guess I'd have to rate Duren's shooting as the best but still slim chance.

I don't think Duren will be anything more than a rim runner with maybe occasional shots from outside but I don't see it ever being a regular part of his repertoire. The one thing he has over Drummond for instance is that he shoots well from the free throw line so he seemingly has the touch to develop a consistent outside shot but I haven't seen any hints in his 4 pro seasons that he has the willingness to do it. Ausar will never be a factor offensively, I'm resigned to this. His shot is broken and he doesn't look for his shot much anyway, he is what he is IMO.

Holland has only played two seasons in the league and I see glimpses in his game of a guy that can develop a multi-faceted offensive arsenal. I don't think it's likely that he ever becomes a consistent force offensively but at least see flashes in his game to become that that the other two don't have.

[NYLion]

12 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

The question is do you win a championship in today’s NBA with a perimeter Ben Wallace? Maybe the pistons will be the trend setter in the next big thing in NBA style of play. 

Yes you can but not if you're paying a limited center near max money. The Pistons are going to have to make a choice between Ausar and Duren eventually, you can't pay both of them big money then eventually Cade the supermax in, what is it, two years now? and ever expect to compete for a championship. Ausar is the guy I choose of the two because he has an elite skill, Duren just doesn't have any special/elite qualities that you can bank on to live with the flaws so it's an easy choice for me. Ultimately I think both get paid and we just hope and pray that they develop other facets of their game.

Edited July 28 by NYLion

[Betrayer]

57 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

if Ausar could get to Draymond’s shooting level this discussion would never happen.

Draymond's shooting level? 🤣

He had 2 solid shooting seasons when he was 25 and 33 years old (Ausar is 23). Also, Ausar shoots better from 2 and has a higher eFG%, so he's already better in that department. I actually believe that Ausar can get to Draymond's 32% 3pt career average, if that's what you're looking for but even if he doesn't Ausar's defense has more impact on the offense.

He averaged 5 stocks last year and that is a ton of easy buckets - Draymond's numbers don't touch that (3 stocks career avg).

Green never had Ausar's athleticism or potential.

They're both very good passers and our coaching staff should lean into that but they're set on Duren being the DHO hub which stupidly pushes Ausar behind the 3pt line where he's least effective. 

Quote

i don’t know that locking into Cade/Thompson is aiming high enough to do more than continuing to exit the playoffs in middle rounds.

I wasn't suggesting that's all you need. Clearly they need another prime time player next to Cade. Steph had Klay (and KD) in addition to Draymond. The point is, of this current core, Cade and Ausar are the guys I'm investing in. They are the untouchables. The engine of the offense and the engine of the defense.

As useless as it is to compare Ausar to Draymond since they play different positions, it's at least a better comparison of their impact on the court and on winning than the laughable comparison to Ron Holland. Might as well compare Cade to Jenkins while we're at it.

Edited July 28 by Betrayer

[gehringer_2]

the shooting comparison to Draymond is purely that Draymond will jack a 30% trey if you leave him alone. even that would be huge for Ausar, just because they do leave him alone. 

[NYLion]

1 hour ago, gehringer_2 said:

if Ausar could get to Draymond’s shooting level this discussion would never happen.

when Ausar came back from injury, he was an upgrade from a 2nd rate player. On a team with real offensive depth or another 1st rate all-round player, you might be giving more up to put him on the floor than has ever been the case on the teams Ausar has played on so far. 

i don’t know that locking into Cade/Thompson is aiming high enough to do more than continuing to exit the playoffs in middle rounds. 

*If* they believe he can/will develop some shooting, then great but it’s no sure thing to commit big money to. 

There's nothing wrong with a Cade/Ausar core, it's the Cade/Ausar/Duren core that's the problem. Ausar can be a core member of a team that has a #2 option alongside it's franchise player like Rodman with Thomas/Dumars and Prince or Ben Wallace with Billups and Rip but you can't have another non-offensive creator/shooter as your second highest paid guy with Ausar and expect to be a Championship team. Duren is the issue here, not Ausar. The Pistons already have their franchise guy/all world defensive guy from the Championship teams, they're missing their Rip, Dumars, Rasheed Wallace guy.

Edited July 28 by NYLion

[Betrayer]

50 minutes ago, Motor City Sonics said:

I don't follow b-ball the way I used to because I don't like most of the players. 

The Pistons won 60 games.  Amazing.   Crapped out in the playoffs when Duren disappeared.  Okay, chalk it up to youth this time - it can't happen again. 

 

But now, after that amazing turnaround it looks like 75% of the roster has changed.     Are they better?    Hard to tell because even if the players are better we don't know if they'll fit well together.    Seems strange to overhaul a roster to this degree after having such an amazing season.  

Just looking at the number of changes, it may feel like a lot, but it really isn't. Assuming Duren is back, 4 of the 5 starters return. The only guys who played meaningful minutes that aren't returning are Harris, Lavert, and Stew. In each case, the players taking their minutes will be a slight upgrade in my opinion (Collins, Joe, Reed).

The changes were made on the margins to bring in more shooting. They've done that and I think it makes them a  marginally better team. Not the big splash everyone wanted (including Trajan, it seems), but they haven't changed the core that got them there. They simply upgraded some of the vets around them to add more guys who can hit an open three.

[gehringer_2]

6 minutes ago, NYLion said:

There's nothing wrong with a Cade/Ausar core, it's the Cade/Ausar/Duren core that's the problem. Ausar can be a core member of a team that has a #2 option alongside it's franchise player like Rodman with Thomas/Dumars and Prince or Ben Wallace with Billups and Rip but you can't have another non-offensive creator/shooter as your second highest paid guy with Ausar and expect to be a Championship team. Duren is the issue here, not Ausar.

i’d like to believe the team construction parallels hold across eras but i’m less than sure about that. it’s a little bit of a false dichotomy though. Duren and Thompson are both flawed players. Cade’s ultimate future isn’t necessarily with either of them if neither can make some strides 

Edited July 29 by gehringer_2