The 2026-27 NBA season is here! Check out our staff previews, including energy rankings, best- and worst-case eventualities, and fantasy advice.
2025-26 end
Record: 60-22 (1st in the East, lost 4-3 in East semifinals to Cavaliers)
Offseason strikes
Draft: Ebuka Okorie (No. 17), Ugonna Onyenso (No. 53)
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Signings: Kevin Huerter (re-signed for 3 years, $27 million), John Collins (3 years, $51 million), Javonte Green (re-signed for 1 yr, $3.9 million), Ausar Thompson (5-year, $155 million extension), Jalen Duren (5-year, $200 million extension)
Trades: Isaiah Joe (from Thunder), Taurean Prince (from Bucks), Gary Harris (from Bucks)
Key departures: Isaiah Stewart (traded to Grizzlies), Tobias Harris (signed with Spurs), Caris LeVert (traded to Bucks)
Cade Cunningham and the Pistons were the No. 1 seed in the East last postseason, but fell in the second spherical. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(Gregory Shamus via Getty Images)
Preseason Power Rankings: No. 13
What’s thrilling: The Pistons completed seventeenth in 3-point proportion but twenty ninth in 3-point makes an attempt last season, and that incapacity to successfully space the ground carried into the playoffs. Opponents crowded the paint for Duren and Cade Cunningham, but now the staff has more capturing threats. Joe is a proficient motion shooter, Prince is dependable off the catch, and Collins can knock down photographs from the corners. Those additions will help out Cade on his drives, Duren on his rolls, and Thompson on his cuts.
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What’s concerning: The concern is that Duren returning won’t essentially imply everything is all good and dandy. Even though he accepted a long-term deal, the frustration from these negotiations could always linger into the season. Duren’s consistency has wavered loads of instances in the previous. What if that model of him returns? And even if he has another All-NBA season, we’ve watched him flip into a shrinking violet for two consecutive postseasons. Maybe he’s just not constructed for it. And if he’s not, then he wants to be changed.
Preseason Power Rankings: How all 30 groups stack up forward of 2026-27
Fantasy watch
Jalen Duren signed, and the holdout is finito. But my high breakout here is Ausar Thompson; we know about the shares, but the offensive growth is the story. His shot profile is already altering; he’s hitting more assured middys, and his playmaking is underrated. That’s why his ADP is climbing. — Dan Titus
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Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Basketball league for the 2026-27 NBA season
2026-27 schedule
Opening week: 10/20 vs. Celtics, 10/23 at Heat
Betting perspective
49.5 — win whole
+120 to win division
+3000 to win NBA Finals
Best case, worst case
Best case: No. 1 seed
They just won 60 video games, and their two most impactful gamers from my view (Cunningham, Thompson) are 1) still here and 2) still getting higher. Even with some defensive slippage — let’s say they go from 2nd to seventh — more capturing should loosen issues up in the half-court offensively. There’s completely a pathway to them sustaining the high seed in the convention.
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Worst case: Play-In Tournament
The East’s depth could be enough cause for the Pistons to fall in the 7-10 vary. If the half-court offense underwhelms — apart from the apparent Thompson capturing portion, I am curious to the quantity of switches the Pistons face — in addition to the protection taking any type of step back, there’s actually room to slide in the standings. — Nekias Duncan
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