Midseason Grade: Detroit Pistons STUN Eastern Conference, DEFENSE Make Them Championship Favorites?
Detroit Pistons surge to the top of the Eastern Conference with lockdown defense and breakout stars. Can this deep roster sustain its dominance, or will lingering offensive issues stall its championship ambitions?
Ku Khahil grades the Pistons’ midseason performance, spotlighting Cade Cunningham’s All-NBA campaign, Jalen Duren’s rise as a defensive anchor, and Isaiah Stewart’s elite rim protection. Key discussion points include head coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s coaching acumen, the bench’s unexpected impact, and Duncan Robinson’s crucial three-point shooting. The episode questions Tobias Harris’ fit, explores Jaden Ivey’s evolving role, and evaluates whether any NBA team matches Detroit’s depth. Insightful data breakdowns and player trends set the stage for the Pistons’ playoff push—will their defense carry them to postseason glory?
Don’t miss Ku Khahil’s comprehensive analysis of Detroit’s first-half success and what it means for the road ahead.
Everydayer Club If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Turbo TaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Take taxes off your plate and get back to your life. Visit https://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today.
QuoMake this the year where no opportunity — and no customer — slips away. Try Quo for free plus get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to https://Quo.com/lockedonnba.Quo — no missed calls, no missed customers.
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://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-pistons/
Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/leagues/nba
#DetroitPistons #Pistons #NBA
26 Comments
Id love Sam Hauser in Detroit
Duncan Robinson has been fantastic for this team!
Hopefully we can get Bobby portis
My opinion on Duncan has changed, hated the signing and at time but he's grown on me
I watched this whole episode waiting for a thoughtful, detailed, research driven breakdown of caris levert’s first half and I feel I was cheated 😂
1st Listen. 👍🏽💯
How do you give the same A to Woo, B-ball Paul ….AND CHAZ?! Chaz has BARELY played! Daniss gets a B+?? A 2-way player who has had major impact? Boy, subjective is really at play here.
Random question but how would Westbrook look on this team for cheap, because we do have another guard in Dannis but Westbrook off the bench for the nuggets was good, Ivey or Sasser could play off of him. And I'm confident with how he bought in to Denver and is liked across the league he would buy in to this Detroit team that's rolling and has a great presence. Only problem is shooting but shit, a guard off the bench would help a lot. Idk though that's why Dennis was so important
I think we should all thank Trajan Langdon for turning the Malik Beasley situation into Duncan Robinson in approximately 20 minutes. That's the move of the summer for me.
So Tobias and Caris Lavert are the weak links to you😂 that's why u want them traded lol
We've been the first seed now for a minute. I dont know why us winning games is a surprise tbh. Especially against a team we've beat previously
Can we get 40 wins before all star break?
worried about cades hip.
Ivey problems have a first name and a last name and it is CARIS LEVERT. I would love to see JB trying Ivey + Jenkins, I can guarantee it will be one of the best backup duos in the league
. My only reasonable explanation is that you expect Ivey to be a starter for the all-star game. Coaches and players have said that it is common to take over a year to return to playing close to 100% of how they were before missing this much time after an injury. Just because Ivey played lead option his rookie year doesn't mean he is a PG. That year Cade missed 70 games. Ivey has had 5 different .roles in his 3 1/2 years in the NBA. This team isn't built around Ivey or he would be playing with a PG. This years team is very successful as it is without 3 PG' or 3 PF's like other teams. We like to watch the Pistons win while playing great defense and exciting offense. I'll be content with 2 out of 3. I don't know how much of the offense struggles are because of specific players compared to the offensive plans.
Very fair grades, Ku. I would say that sometimes a guy needs to step back to let others shine. We haven't had to rely as much on Tobias this season compared to last season. Whether he's been hurt or less involved, it's allowed JD and Stew to be more involved and pick up their games. We saw against Boston what we have with Tobias, and it's probably better that we don't have to count on him so much. He still brings the calming Unc vibes and the old man annoying defense. C+ is fair, but if we end up trading him, I think we'll miss his intangibles.
The podcast I want to see from Ku is 30 minutes with Jaden Ivey as the guest after he has watched all of these podcast.
Time to put those pelicans to work tonight
What’s up Ku??? Locked On told you not to say “Let’s Go” or what?
Boyyyyy Ausar is not playing at B level 😂😂😂you live in a delusional state KU NGL it’s giving killian days all over again ‼️😂you can’t be a grade B giving us 6points a night stop it KU wake up out the dream
Not saying I thought it would go THIS well…. But I have a bet with my boss… Pistons 1 seed, I throw a carton of eggs at him.
Pistons anything else, he throws a carton of eggs at me.
Did it last year with a pistons playoff birth after the 14-68 season.
Both bets were made at tiger playoff games before the seasons started.
Hey Ku. Are the Pistons better off with Duncan Robinson instead of Malik Beasley? How well is Robinson filling those shoes?
You’re real nice for giving Caris that D- because if we’re being honest he’s probably the worst player who gets minutes. The thing is earlier this year he was actually balling out and after he missed some games he’s just been stinking up the place. He can’t play good with the starters at all and he isn’t a better defender or playmaker than Sasser or Jenkins and he’s definitely not a better scorer or defender than Green but because he’s taller than them JB is letting Caris eat all of their minutes up and when he’s on the floor you can tell he has the worst chemistry with everyone else. Honestly I would say 2 out of those 5 games we lost where we should have won is directly attributed to Caris, at least that Clippers game most definitely. And honestly if JB doesn’t bench him and keeps giving Sasser and Jenkins minutes to him they might both be gone next year, on top of they’re clearly declining when on the floor for only 4-10 minutes per game they both play drastically better when they can get a feel from the other teams players.
Caris is at least a C. Done watching you, you don't understand ball at all.
Deeetroit basketball 🏀
Love your show but I do have one thing for you to think about when it comes to Asuar you might be giving to much weight to offense and not enough to defense. The problem with the NBA is to much value goes into scoring points but in a limited possession game which the playoffs are getting stops is more important than scoring points. Twin in the playoffs will show the world how vital he is to winning when you can put him on a teams number one or two scorer and essentially take them out of the game. Like I said great show keep up the good work but defense wins championships