All-NBA big man Karl-Anthony Towns dished out some praise for the Pistons

Last season, the Detroit Pistons turned the entire direction of the franchise around by tripling its win total (14 to 44) from the season prior, which ultimately propelled the squad into the NBA playoffs for the first time in five years. In the postseason, the Pistons faced the New York Knicks and took the series to six games before ultimately bouncing out of the playoffs as the Knicks eventually moved onto the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Though the series against the Knicks spelled bad news for the Pistons, it helped Detroit learn and understand what it takes to make a deep run in the postseason. In a sense, it was an experience-building session that should prepare the admittedly young Pistons squad for future postseason conquests. 

During that matchup, Karl-Anthony Towns faced stiff opposition from Pistons center Jalen Duren, and it was an eye-opening experience for the All-NBA Knicks big man as he learned that Detroit will likely be a tough contender for several years to come. 

“I know Detroit firsthand,” Towns recently said on the Network podcast with Rich Kleiman. “Really, really, really good. One of the toughest we played all year last year. And they’re going to only be better. [Jaden] Ivey’s going to be back as well from injury and they reloaded with some amazing players. We’ve gotta be ready.”

As Towns alluded to, the Pistons were without the offensive firepower of Jaden Ivey for that series, and Detroit will be a different, tougher team to guard this season now that he’s making his return from a broken leg injury. Additionally, the Pistons signed Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson during the summer, and those two veterans are expected to provide a dose of leadership and guidance to the youthful Detroit squad. 

Before picking up his season-ending injury, Ivey was enjoying a bit of a breakout season for the Pistons. By that point, Ivey had started all 30 games he featured in, and he was scoring above a 17 points per game clip, so he was turning into a productive second scoring option for the Pistons to partner with Cade Cunningham. 

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On top of his scoring ability, Ivey has the ability to run Detroit’s offense when Cunningham needs a break, so it would have been beneficial for the Purdue product to keep developing that skill set during the latter part of the 2024-25 season since Dennis Schroder did not return to the Pistons this year. Either way, the Pistons are thrilled to have Ivey back with the squad as training camp kicks off in Detroit right now. 

First, the Pistons will open up the pre-season with a Monday, Oct. 6 contest against the Memphis Grizzlies before eventually beginning the regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 22 versus the Chicago Bulls. 

For more information on the latest Detroit Pistons team or player news, follow @EricJRutter on X for continued basketball coverage.