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The clarity Trajan Langdon awaited before striking out boldly in the trade market emerged over the course of the 2025-26 season. Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson identified themselves as primary complementary partners to the undisputed centerpiece of the roster, Cade Cunningham.
Long-range planning still requires the ink to dry on new contracts for Duren and Thompson, which remains a work in progress and typical of the process when a player reaches restricted free agency, as Duren did over the off-season.
Any moves more dramatic than the Pistons made over the off-season likely will wait on the resolutions of Duren and Thompson’s deals, so the likelihood is the roster as it stands now is largely the one the Pistons will take into training camp when it opens in four weeks.
After Duren’s situation resolves, the Pistons will have 16 players on standard contracts, one over the regular-season maximum. The Pistons could carry all 16 into training camp, though, and let it play out until the eve of the Oct. 20 opener when rosters are set.
Let’s take a look at where the roster stands and how J.B. Bickerstaff might shape his rotation:
LOCKS (7) – Cunningham, Duren and Thompson are starters written in ink. Cunningham is coming off of an All-NBA first team season when he emerged as an MVP candidate and a player looked at as someone capable of leading a team good enough to compete for an NBA championship.
Duren, building off a strong second half of his third season, took another assertive step forward to become one of the NBA’s top big men as evidenced by his third team All-NBA selection. There’s more meat on the bone to get to with Duren, too, as to be expected for a 22-year-old. Thompson, similarly, has enormous growth potential even though his impact is already significant as an All-Defense first team selection who finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
Beyond those three, four others – Duncan Robinson, Paul Reed, Ron Holland II and newcomer John Collins – seem almost certain to be in the opening-night rotation if the Pistons are fully healthy coming out of the preseason.
Robinson finished 12th in the NBA in 3-pointers last season with 220 and 18th in attempts with 536 while shooting 41 percent from the arc, the type of volume and accuracy so critical to spacing and allowing Cunningham the room to operate and make the Cunningham-Duren pick-and-roll that is the backbone of Bickerstaff’s offense so effective.
With the trade of Isaiah Stewart to Memphis, Reed – the most overqualified No. 3 center in the NBA the past two seasons – gets a role more suited to his abilities this season. Reed’s ability to splash numbers across the box score – points, rebounds, steals, blocks – in a hurry and his unorthodox game give Bickerstaff a valuable and versatile bench piece.
Holland, 21, is poised to take a leap in year three. Even if his calling cards remain being an enormous defensive annoyance and an opportunistic scorer in transition and via cuts and put-backs, Holland almost certainly will be more efficient and consistent in what he does best while gradually expanding his offensive arsenal.
Collins is essentially taking the place of Tobias Harris, who left as a free agent for San Antonio, but he’ll bring a different look. Collins isn’t a volume 3-point shooter – he took 3.2 per game last season after a career-high 3.7 the previous season – but he’s shot 40 percent from the arc the past two seasons, so perhaps Bickerstaff will scheme with an eye toward boosting his attempts. But Collins has also thrived as a rim runner who could give the Pistons a different look at center in five-out attacks.
CONTENDERS (4) – Bickerstaff went with a 10-man rotation consistently in his first season with the Pistons but it was more fluid in year two – and often more expansive. It’s conceivable the Pistons regularly use an 11-man rotation this time when the roster is fully staffed.
There is a group of four players who will compete to be at the front end of the line for regular rotation minutes: Isaiah Joe, Kevin Huerter, Daniss Jenkins and Javonte Green.
Joe is accustomed to competing for rotation minutes, spending his last four seasons in Oklahoma City on what evolved into the NBA’s deepest roster. Joe is an elite 3-point shooter with four straight seasons of shooting more than 40 percent from the arc, even more impressive considering the perimeter depth and competition for minutes in Oklahoma City. That said, Joe played at least 71 games each of his four OKC seasons and averaged at least 18 minutes a game each year. He seems like a heavy favorite to win a stable role.
Jenkins, who played his way from two-way to standard contract over the course of a breakout second NBA season, finished sixth on the Pistons in postseason minutes. Though the Pistons are very high on first-round rookie Ebuka Okorie, Jenkins is very likely to be Cunningham’s backup at point guard and a candidate to find himself in finishing lineups next to him given his effectiveness as a spot-up shooter and ability to serve as a secondary playmaker to undermine the double-teaming of Cunningham.
The Pistons acquired Huerter at the trade deadline in February and clearly believe in him, re-signing him to a multi-year deal in free agency. Huerter’s 3-point shooting has gone from a strength to a mystery over the course of his career – he hit 38.2 percent on heavy volume over his first six seasons, but slumped to .338 and .308 the past two seasons. They’re betting on a better environment and a return to the norm for Huerter, still only 28. He’s also capable of making plays off the dribble and is a good passer.
Green became part of the heartbeat of the team after being picked up late in the 2025 off-season and the Pistons wasted little time locking up the veteran in free agency for another tour of duty. In addition to his defensive tenacity and fearlessness, Green has matured into an efficient 3-point shooter, hitting a career-best 38.1 percent with the Pistons.
IN THE WINGS (5) – You can split the next tier into two groups: veterans Taurean Prince and Gary Harris in one bucket and young players Okorie, Chaz Lanier and Tolu Smith in the other.
If the Pistons don’t make a trade to address the need to lop one standard contract off the roster, then it likely comes down to Prince or Harris for the final roster spot. Given the balance of the roster, Prince would seem to serve the greater need as a player capable of giving minutes at power forward while also providing a proven 3-point threat.
Lanier showed in Summer League what a weapon he could become as a 3-point shooter. When called upon early in his rookie season as injuries depleted the Pistons backcourt, Lanier won Bickerstaff’s admiration for the way he executed at both ends and handled big moments. He’s got a future in the NBA, but opportunity might come in fits and starts in year two.
Smith is a workmanlike center who knows what got him to the NBA and stays in his lane. He’s a particularly strong rebounder. While Reed’s presence was the primary motivating factor in the Pistons feeling comfortable trading away Stewart, having Smith to fill Reed’s role as the No. 3 center didn’t hurt.
Okorie, 19, comes to a 60-win team with an All-NBA starter at his position, so there is zero immediate need for him to carve out a role. But the quickness and innate scoring ability that made him such an intriguing get for Langdon and his front office might force the team’s hand at some point, which counts as a first-world problem.