DIFFERENT: Detroit Pistons Have Not Looked The SAME The Last Six Games | Should There Be Concern?
Detroit Pistons rock the NBA with a 13-game win streak, rising to 17-5—but are cracks starting to show? Can Jaden Ivey’s off-ball scoring and athleticism spark the offense, or will turnovers and rotation issues derail their Eastern Conference ambitions?
Ku Khahil breaks down the Pistons’ defensive identity, their recent offensive struggles, and how injuries to Duncan Robinson and growing pains in the rotation are impacting the team. Key topics include Cade Cunningham’s turnover spike, Jalen Duren’s adjustment to defenses, and Ivey’s evolving role alongside core players. The debate heats up as Ku calls for a trade to land a high-volume, stretch four—citing names like Michael Porter Jr. and Lauri Markkanen to boost spacing. With playoff dreams on the line, can J.B. Bickerstaff make the tough lineup decisions to restore the Pistons’ early-season dominance?
SUBSTACK: kukhahil.substack.com
PLAYBACK: playback.tv/watchpistons
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
DoorDashFrom tipoff to overtime, stay in your bag and order on DoorDash.Get snacks, drinks, gear — whatever gets you through the season — delivered right to your door.DoorDash. In your bag all season long.
PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here:https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBA
RobinhoodYou expect more from yourself. Expect more from your money. Get started today at robinhood.com/yourmoney. Your money. Your move.
All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Options, futures, and crypto trading carry significant risk and may not suit all investors. Securities offered through Robinhood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Futures trading is offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC and not SPIC or FDIC protected. Crypto offered through Robinhood Crypto, LLC (NMLS ID 1702840), not FDIC or SIPC protected. Portfolio management offered by Robinhood Strategies, an SEC-registered advisor.
GametimeToday’s episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.
FanDuelToday’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NBA and NFL seasons are here, visit the FanDuel App today and start planning your futures bets now.
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPistons?sid=YouTube
Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA
#DetroitPistons #Pistons #NBA
31 Comments
Coworker has had a field day blaming Ivey again. “We’ve been horrible since he came back” yea the guy playing 15 minutes a game is the entire reason
How bout asuar actually take open 3s or show some form of improvement on the offensive end
Ivey defense has always been bad even before the injury. Again Tyler hero and kevin porter jr coming back from injury too and the rust is knocked off quickly
Duren is a water down bam and that's not a good thing
Harris, Levert, 2 FRPs (maybe 3) for MPJ. Clears our guard glut and also gives us another elite shooter that is also an upgrade at PF.
Cunningham/Jenkins
Ivey/Robinson
Thompson/Holland
Porter Jr./Stewart
Duren/Stewart
Run a tighter 9 man rotation like that and get all our core guys closer to 35mpg instead of sub 30mpg.
I just detest MPJ as an annoying off court personality.
Sure he is productive on court. But we have seen him in playoffs being a non factor.
And off the court, he is annoying as fuck and doesn’t fit this Pistons culture.
I rather go out and get Royce O Neal or some other affordable shooter.
MPJ gives total D-Lo vibes in his production.
Besides OKC, who else in the NBA is dominating? The Pistons have over achieved up to this point… Now that they've have film out on them, teams are making the adjustments. Now it's time for the Pistons to make counter adjustment… Now we will see if the coaching staff, and the players can pick up their game again….. I will be very interested to see what their play will look like after having five days off in between games after saturday…….
Caris and Tobias in crunch time is the just gonna get you mid results.
Deeetroit basketball 🏀
IT IS ALL ABOUT GAMBLING
its ivey
How would we trade for MPJ, while keeping Harris and Duncan? Having Harris backing up MPJ would definitely be a luxury, but how would we make that happen? You’d have to trade Ivey, Duncan and Caris.
Don’t sweat it bro. The Cavs, Knicks, and Lakers have also had ups and downs. Besides that, the idea is to peak at the right time. I mean, the games in late March and April are more impactful than the ones in November.
Bottom line to many players are playing. Outside of the first quarter there is absolutely no Flo because JB is trying to play 12-13 players.
The Pistons current woes has a lot to do with coaching. JB, hasn’t adjusted to the way teams are now playing them. The Pistons also need a legitimate second scoring option, preferably a 4. Michael Porter Jr., imo is the perfect fit..🤔
I feel the Pistons need another actual shooter it'll fix so much for us. Spacing, offense, and turnovers. imo i think we have more turnovers without a lethal shooters
When is someone going to address Ausar's health? As a former ballplayer with asthma I recognize the signs that he is struggling with his breathing at various times during the game. His energy is clearly sub par most of the time. His minutes are being restricted because of asthma and its clearly worse than last year, I think his occasional lack of aggression is because of shortness of breath.
Basically we need Rasheed Wallace again.
Ivey is never going to be a good defender is crazy he cant handle the pill he can he just need to work on his handle he so strong he needs to work on his dribble as much as he works out
So no other players should have 2 turnover besides Cade ?
All you think about is 3's ku it all about a player that just shoot 3's
Get real. Markennen is always hurt.
For NBA players I think we got a lot of subpar ball handlers. Including Cade Cunningham. Thompson looks lost sometimes offensively falling down
I’m hearing that LockedOn Nets saying the Nets want Jayden Ivey… They giving up MPJ?????
The only thing I'm going to say to how the Pistons are playing lately is…..
HOW BAD DO THEY WANT TO BE THE TOP TEAM
Okc has Chet so yea we might need another stretch big to be on that level and compete with them. Tobias doesn’t like shooting 3’s he would rather drive from what I noticed
We are a trash organization when beef stew is one of our best players that guy is totally trash causes too many problems
just say it Ku deep down your worried our opening stretch has been a fluke
Great take on Ivey… i agree with all you said… he's an offensive ball scorer. He always have been! Thats why i never understood why people said he can't play with Cade
I was catching up and watching the thunder/warriors game, and there's one thing that was VERY clear to me:
Every pass with those teams was crisp. Purposeful. Snappy. I watched that whole game and could only count a couple of passes from either team that seemed a little risky bc of complacency or comfortability, or whatever. I went back to our previous couple games and just picked random possessions. Our passing looked so much slower and weaker compared to those teams. Now, those are the 2 best ran organizations in the league, arguably, but the difference was drastic. Especially in the last 3, I've noticed it. There's just no purpose when they swing the ball. It looks so lackadaisical when it should look urgent. I think that, plus the lack of speed from our shooters getting into shooting position, is a big reason why we haven't been affective from long range.
I don't want Michael Porter jr….. i want Trey Murphy III
I think when Ivey is a little older, he's going to be a very capable defender. I think he looks lost out there sometimes, but he's young. All these guys are. If we just give them time to learn, we'll be successful for the next 5 years.
I feel we as fans just be patient as they work Ivey back into the starting lineup. I feel Ausar should be out there in the starting lineup for one is because we win a lot of games from his athleticism and for two to utilize his PG ability to play Ivey and Cade off the ball on offense for sure. With that move you WILL have 3 players you have to resign certainly in Duren, Ivey and Ausar this offseason to big deals potentially max deals guys. Holland won't play into that class due to his current role so don't worry about that part fans.
I'm with you on trading for a stretch PF or C. We really need to get more depth in the frontcourt by getting another high volume guy that can play low minutes. We already have Stew, Jenkins and Holland going for us off the bench. As far as Ivey returning again I feel like you said let him, Cade and Ausar start these games out and take advantage of both of Cade and Ausar off the ball.We got Harris so Robinson can come off the bench or be a trade piece for a big expiring contract for a stretch PF which we can certainly trade Harris in a deal like that but it must be an expiring contract that's what Trajan is looking for. One thing is clear Caris is a trade piece and so is Sasser because Jenkins our guy as backup PG and I like Chaz in his limited time too as a backup SG and Holland as backup SF. Maybe Harris can be a backup PF if we can keep through the trade season but Harris, Robinson, Sasser and Green are expendable now and good players that can be moved to a team looking for an unprotected FRP this year to go with a SRP and give a lucky a draft that doesn't have one. They definitely can afford to make a big trade by moving Harris, Robinson, Levert Sasser and Green.