NBA Insider Lays out Potential Detroit Pistons Starting Lineup

Should the Detroit Pistons open the year with this starting unit?

Dec 23, 2023; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Mikal Bridges (1) is fouled as he drives to the basket by Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) in front of Pistons forward Ausar Thompson (9) during the first quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Following an offseason that saw them bring in a new coach and a handful of new faces, there are a lot of question marks regarding the Detroit Pistons lineups and rotations. A few weeks out from the start of training camp, one insider gave a projection of what their opening unit could look like.

In a recent column for The Athletic James Edwards did a complete breakdown of the Pistons' depth chart. He also shared his thoughts on the five-man unit J.B. Bickerstaff could start the year with. Edwards projected Detroit's day one starting lineup to be Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, Simone Fontecchio, Tobias Harris, and Jalen Duren.

The thing that stands out from this unit is that Jaden Ivey finds himself leading the second unit as Cunningham's backup for this. Edwards cited defense and Thompson all-around skill set as reasons to start him alongside the former No. 1 pick.

At his introductory news conference, Bickerstaff mentioned that one of his hopes this season is to help turn Cunningham into a legitimate two-way player. Cunningham has shown flashes of being a very good on-ball defender, but the burden he has offensively has played a part in only seeing his best in spurts on the defensive end. I don’t believe Bickerstaff had Cunningham guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter player in mind when he made these comments. Most teams in this league have two really good guards/wings, and the idea here, to me, is to have Cunningham hold his own defensively against an opponent’s (non-big man) second option.

In terms of maximizing Cunningham's skill set, this lineup does make a lot of sense. As Edwards mentioned, having Thompson out there as opposed to a smaller guard like Ivey or Malik Beasley lessens his workload defensively. More importantly, Cunningham have a pair of willing outside shooters at both forward spots. This could create cutting lanes for Thompson, and give Cunningham and Duren the space to operate in the pick-and-roll.

Still having two non-shooters in the lineup isn't ideal for Cunningham, but this unit does give the Pistons optionality. It's still too early to tell what Bickerstaff plans to do with his lineups, but this five-man group wouldn't be the worst place to start.