Looking Ahead To The Detroit Pistons 2025-26 Pre-Season Schedule

Right now, the NBA's regular season is still a little over a month away, but the Detroit Pistons will retake the hardwood sooner than that once the pre-season rolls around. To that effect, Detroit's pre-season opener is 23 days away when the Pistons are slated to travel to Memphis for an 8pm tip-off time against the Grizzlies. 

After that contest, Detroit will participate in two more road pre-season affairs (against the Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers) before concluding the exhibition period of basketball with a home finale on Tuesday, Oct. 16 against the Washington Wizards. 

Though some may argue that four pre-season games within an 11 day timespan is not a lot of material to judge a team based off of-- and there is significant merit to that argument-- the pre-season should be helpful in a couple key areas for the Pistons.

First, Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert are joining Detroit from other clubs last year, so it will be intriguing to see which lineups head coach B.J. Bickerstaff tries out. Many believe that the starting five is relatively locked up for the Pistons already, but it will be interesting to see who will be called upon off the bench first when a couple starters eventually need to take a breather. 

Another area to watch is how Robinson and LeVert play off of each other after starring for the Michigan Wolverines while in college with overlapping careers in Ann Arbor (for one season) while doing so. The two have remained close friends while in the NBA, albeit for different teams, so perhaps that pair can spark back up some of the chemistry they displayed at Crisler Arena at UM. 

Finally, the last couple spots of the Pistons bench are not quite set in stone. Rookie Chaz Lanier is a player that a lot of people within the organization are excited about, so he will likely get a good deal of run and playing time during the pre-season to see how ready he is and if he can seize a spot in the on the squad right off the bat.

These are a few of the storylines I'll be watching closely once the Pistons pre-season kicks off. What will you be zeroed in on? Let us know!