With five regular season games in the books, the Detroit Pistons are back in a familiar spot atop the Eastern Conference after their hot start. The Pistons already have big wins over the Boston Celtics, Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers on their resume, but the Motown squad is battling a couple injury woes at the moment. 

While the Pistons are still tracking the recoveries of both Isaiah Joe and Jalen Duren, the latter is a player with the ability to open up so much offensively for Detroit, so it’s important to evaluate the squad with the caveat that JD’s been injured for roughly 75% of the regular season already. 

When Duren is available, the Pistons are simply a far more dynamic offensive team given his nightly 20-point, 10-rebound production, but the All-Star center is currently working his way back from a strained hamstring. But from the small sample size Duren’s provided this year, the big man moved well, looked explosive and attacked the basket with a similar sense of aggression that Detroit fans have grown accustomed to. 

In general, Duren has a level of chemistry already built up with Cade Cunningham that’s impossible to replace. The two are lethal in the two-man game off pick-and rolls, but Duren’s vertical range gives Detroit an element that few defenses can counter. 

Though it should have already been clear, Duren’s absence illustrates just how important he is to the Pistons offense. On the bright side, the Pistons have been given additional opportunities to try out new lineup combinations without JD in the mix, so a few Pistons-newcomers, such as Taurean Prince and Elijah Harkless, have been given the chance to pick up some valuable reps over the last four games. 

After using Daniss Jenkins as a secondary playmaker next to Cunningham in the postseason, the Pistons have continued to drill that concept repeatedly throughout the first week and a half of the 2026-27 campaign. Head coach. J.B. Bickerstaff has also experimented some more with Ausar Thompson in an on-ball playmaking role, which points to the reality that the Pistons are looking for players who can take the pressure off Cunningham once he’s double-teamed.

With Jenkins pulling double-duty at the two in some situations, rookie point guard Ebuka Okorie should receive more of an opportunity to run the Pistons offense as the regular season progresses. Bickerstaff has a track record of bringing his rookies along slowly, but Okorie looks too talented to keep off the floor. 

After spending over two decades in the league, Bickerstaff has rubbed elbows with what seems like a majority of the NBA, and he was already more than familiar with Taurean Prince’s ability before he wound up in the Motor City. And now that Prince is a depth option on the Pistons bench, Bickerstaff is using the experienced wing in multiple roles.

At times, Bickerstaff has placed Prince alongside a mostly youthful lineup to serve as the veteran presence on the court, but he’s also deployed the versatile wing in late-game situations when the Pistons are looking to close out a game. Those are two situations where Prince’s experience can be very valuable, so don’t be surprised if Detroit leads on the Baylor product in high-leverage situations this year.