I Used Math To Just How Good The Pistons Will Be In 2027..

[00:00:00]Last season, the Pistons won 60 games and claimed the number one seed in the East for the first time in 20 [music] years on the back of a legitimately historic run from Cade Cunningham. Then ran into a Cleveland team that was simply better in the second round. This off-season, they reshaped real chunks of the roster around that [music] same core, and one of their two best players still doesn't technically have a contract as of right now. So today, the full roster breakdown. What actually got fixed? What's still missing? And my real prediction for exactly where this team lands.

[00:00:33]Here's where [music] we're headed. What actually happened last season, and exactly how historic Cade Cunningham's playoff run really was.

[00:00:40]>> [music] >> Every real move this off-season. Who's in and who's out. Whether the fit around Cade actually improved. And finally, my honest win total and seating prediction for this exact roster.

[00:00:53]This is Game is Culture.

[00:00:55]One quick note, Duren's contract is genuinely still unresolved as of this video. [music] So I'm building this around the most likely outcome, not a guarantee. Subscribe if you want the update the moment that actually [music] gets settled.

[00:01:08]Part one, last season's historic run.

[00:01:11]>> [music] >> 60 wins and 22 losses. The number one seed in the entire Eastern Conference.

[00:01:17]The first time this franchise has held that spot in 20 years. That's not a modest step forward. That's genuinely one of the best regular seasons in modern [music] Pistons history, and it happened with a roster most people outside Detroit still weren't fully taking seriously back in October, before [music] the season actually started. And Cade Cunningham wasn't just good in that playoff run. He was [music] historically good. The kind of stretch that gets brought up for years afterward. Look at these numbers next to any modern point guard's playoff stretch, and they hold up against basically all of them. Here's the stat that actually [music] puts it in perspective. Cunningham became the fourth player in NBA history to score [music] 20 or more points in each of his first 15 career playoff games. The other three names on that exact [music] list are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, and Anthony Davis. That's the actual company this 24-year-old is already keeping.

[00:02:14]For as good as that run was, it still ended the same way. A second-round exit to a [music] Cleveland team that was simply deeper. Cade averaging 28 points a game wasn't enough on its own to win that series, which tells you the actual story of this offseason. It was never about replacing him. [music] It was about finally building him real help around the edges.

[00:02:35]Not everything here was a weakness that needed patching. Ausar Thompson gives this [music] team real defensive versatility on the wing, guarding multiple positions at a high-level, and he's healthy entering this season after dealing with [music] real health concerns earlier in his career. Add Tobias Harris and Caris LeVert into that same rotation, and the wing depth was already one of the quieter strengths of this roster before a single offseason move even happened.

[00:03:00]Part two, the offseason moves.

[00:03:02]Line up the actual transactions in order, and you can see exactly what general manager Trajan Langdon was building toward all summer. More shooting, more usable depth, and a real [music] bet that Cade needed genuine support more than this roster needed a full overhaul from the ground up.

[00:03:19]This wasn't just adding names for the sake of adding names, either. Detroit ranked [music] 28th in the entire league in made three-pointers last season, with only Duncan Robinson and Cade himself actually making more than one and a half [music] a game on a consistent basis.

[00:03:34]Adding two real shooters in Huerter and Isaiah Joe directly targets the single clearest, most measurable weakness [music] on last year's roster, not a vague, vibes-based need. But every single one of these moves quietly assumes Jalen Duren is actually part of the long-term plan here. away Isaiah Stewart, the team's actual backup center, only [music] makes real sense if Duren resigns and locks down that position for years. If that contract doesn't get done before the season, this entire offseason reads completely [music] differently in hindsight, and center suddenly becomes the thinnest spot on the roster instead of the most settled one. Part three, does the fit actually work? Put the two rosters side by [music] side, position by position, and you can see exactly what this front office was actually trying to fix this summer, and exactly what's still a genuine [music] open question, no matter how this offseason gets graded. Even with all this shooting added, reporting has been consistent all summer that Detroit still hasn't landed a true second scorer [music] who can take real, sustained pressure off Cade specifically in a playoff [music] series, which is exactly where last year's run actually stalled out against Cleveland's defense.

[00:04:46][music] Better shooting around him genuinely helps the offense breathe, but it's not the same thing as a second guy who can create his own shot from scratch [music] when the whole offense stalls out in a close fourth quarter. Even without a second star, the shooting upgrade on its own is real and worth putting an actual number on.

[00:05:05]Part four, the actual prediction. Not everyone thinks this team [music] repeats last year's jump, and it's worth actually hearing the skeptical case out.

[00:05:13]At least one national analyst has publicly predicted Detroit falls short of 47 wins this season, [music] arguing that a jump as historic and as sudden as last year's is genuinely hard to repeat, let alone build on, especially with a core piece's contract [music] still hanging unresolved this deep into the summer. Here's the honest counterpoint, though, and it matters. Even [music] that same skeptical coverage admits Detroit should still comfortably contend for a top-six playoff spot, given how the rest of the East [music] actually shakes out behind the true top tier.

[00:05:47]Boston, New York, and Indiana are ahead of them in the actual [music] championship odds right now, but nobody serious is projecting the Pistons out of playoff position entirely, even in the pessimistic version of this season.

[00:06:00]Weigh the real shooting upgrade against the still unresolved center situation and the tougher East, and here's honestly where I land.

[00:06:08]If I have to put a real number on it, I land somewhere in the low 50s, not 60 again, but nowhere close to the sub-47 prediction either, assuming Duren actually gets his deal done before the season starts.

[00:06:22]So, that's the full picture, a historic [music] 60-win season, a genuinely deserved shooting upgrade, and one massive contract still hanging over the entire offseason. My honest call is somewhere around 52 wins and a real top-four seed, assuming Duren gets paid like I expect.

[00:06:40][music] If he doesn't, all of this changes fast. What's your prediction? Do they hold their ground or take the step back one analyst [music] is calling for?

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