More than halfway through the 2024-2025 NBA season, plenty of teams can figure out where they are at. Some remain with the goal of gunning for a title. Others might be driving the tank to the NBA Draft Lottery, hoping to get the big prospect out of Duke.

Typically, the Detroit Pistons find themselves in the latter category. It’s been years since the Pistons put together a playoff run, but the trend might be broken in 2025.

At the All-Star break, the Pistons are not only in the postseason picture, but they place sixth in the Eastern Conference, meaning they could make the playoffs without having to go through the Play-In Tournament.

There is still a lot of basketball left to be played, but the Pistons recently landed in their own tier on a list that was recently crafted by DrafKings. Detroit is sitting all alone in the “big step forward” category.

Isn’t that the truth…

The 2021 NBA Draft was a moment for the Pistons to select the new face of their franchise. With the top pick of the draft, the Pistons called on Cade Cunningham.

Through the first three seasons of the Cunningham era, the Pistons were far from contenders. The 2021-2022 season ended with the Pistons in 14th place with a 23-59 record.

They followed up that year with a 17-65 record, which put them at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. Year three of the Cunningham era was somehow the worst. Detroit sat in 15th place with a 14-68 record. Although big changes were made, it was difficult to trust the Pistons to actually take a step forward.

At this point, it’s safe to say the season has been a success for the Pistons, who surely took a big step forward. When the Pistons return to action later this week, they’ll do so with a 29-26 record. Currently, the Pistons are sixth in the Eastern Conference.

They haven’t reached the “making the playoffs” tier, likely due to a lack of trust, but they are in the picture with a happy pose as they are above the “play-in contenders.”

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