Pistons hurt by series loss to Knicks, but they have a lot to look forward to

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DETROIT — Little Caesars Arena let out a collective gasp of disbelief at what transpired with 0.4 seconds remaining in Game 6 on Thursday.

Cade Cunningham drew three New York Knicks defenders and kicked the ball to a wide-open Malik Beasley. The Detroit Pistons were trailing 116-113, and Beasley, who had gone 5-of-12 from 3-point range to that point, had a clean look before the ball slipped through his hands and out of bounds.

The turnover came at the most inopportune time, and along with it went the Pistons’ historic turnaround season. As painful as the sting of losing Game 6 and the series was for Detroit and its fans, they should realize the Pistons are going into an offseason with real optimism for the first time in years.

After tripling last season’s win total and winning its first playoff game since 2008, Detroit can look to bolster a young core with six games of legitimate postseason experience. Pistons owner Tom Gores spoke before Game 6 about his approach moving forward.

“Our word in the summer to the players, to our organization, to myself, was ‘urgency,’” Gores said. “That was win or lose. Our urgency is not going to stop. … That is an organizational motto here. We have to move with urgency.

“This team has shown a lot. We’ve seen that there’s a good mix here. And the chemistry has been tremendous. I haven’t seen it (before) in my time here, I haven’t seen it in a lot of sports. These guys really like each other. It’s a combination of great men, unselfish men, that are really good at basketball.”

Pistons owner Tom Gores on the direction of the team given this season’s success:

“Our urgency is not going to stop. … That is an organizational motto here. We have to move with urgency. The urgency is not going to change.” pic.twitter.com/RzEk3XL7Cc

— Hunter Patterson (@HuntPatterson_) May 1, 2025

Gores and Detroit have 10 players currently under contract for next season: Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Jalen Duren, Tobias Harris, Ron Holland II, Isaiah Stewart, Marcus Sasser, Bobi Klintman and Simone Fontecchio. That group has an average age of 23.8 years old.

Cunningham, the franchise cornerstone, averaged 25 points on 42.6 percent shooting from the field and 17.9 percent from 3, 8.7 assists, 8.3 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.3 blocks and 5.3 turnovers per game in his first postseason.

“We felt good about this series, so to not pull it out hurts,” Cunningham said. “But that feeling will stick with us throughout this summer in our workouts and conversations. We’ll be back and better.”

Ivey should be front of mind when Cunningham mentions being back and better. He started each of the 30 games he played before his Jan. 1 left fibula fracture and was on pace for career highs in points, rebounds, steals, field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage.

Cunningham will enter next season at 24 and Ivey will be 23. The idea of inserting a healthy Ivey back into the lineup next to Cunningham could be promising. Factor in the growth of Thompson and Duren this season, and the starting lineup becomes even more intriguing.

But to Cunningham’s point, that hurt will need to stick with this group. Who remains on the roster with that feeling next season is still to be decided. Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley, Dennis Schröder, Paul Reed and Lindy Waters III are all on expiring deals.

Beasley, who inked a one-year, $6 million contract with the Pistons last summer, was outspoken about how much the city and franchise mean to him.

“In my whole nine years in the NBA, I’ve never had this much fun coming to the gym,” Beasley said. “I’ve been through a lot of stuff, just this year alone, and every day coming in was probably the best thing to happen to me. Coach J.B. (Bickerstaff) and Trajan (Langdon) did an amazing job of making sure when you come in here it’s fun, it’s energetic, it’s a place where you want to be.

“It’s definitely a place I want to be. To be here, my mom’s hometown, I grew up here in the summertime, so to be able to perform in front of the city is huge and I’m glad I got a chance to do that.”

The 28-year-old shooting guard played all 82 games for the first time in his career and made a career-best 319 3-pointers. Beasley could attract lucrative contract offers from other suitors.

Thompson, on the other hand, will be on his rookie contract until the 2026-27 season unless he and the Pistons agree to an extension sometime before then. He averaged 11.5 points on 57.1 percent, 5.2 points, 1.2 steals and 1.0 assists during his first six playoff games.

“I wish we got a win for the home (crowd). We were this close,” Thompson said. “That hurt a little bit. But the good thing is, we get an opportunity to train and come back. We learn from this year and take it further next year.”

The postseason directly offered the 22-year-old wing multiple examples of how much more dynamic Detroit can be if he is able to sustain his level of play during the playoffs for an entire regular season. He was especially good during his final two outings of the series and was one of the heroes of Game 5.

The Pistons now have five months to process this series, regroup, retool and prepare to be a better version of themselves. Bickerstaff, in particular, is looking forward to the challenge. But he’s also able to look at this season with a sense of pride.

“The job is about those guys in the locker room and trying to do the most for them,” Bickerstaff said. “That’s all I really care about. It’s trying to help young men grow professionally, grow personally and build team. That’s the fun part about my job. When you find 15 guys in a space and then you do your best to bring them together and actually create team. That’s what we were able to do this year.”

(Photo of Cade Cunningham, Dennis Schröder, Malik Beasley and Jalen Duren: Brian Sevald / NBAE via Getty Images)

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