Setting The Pick – The fall and rise of Motor City

The Detroit Pistons are tied for the league’s longest winning streak at eight games, a feat their team hasn’t achieved in over 17 years.  

They currently sit in the sixth seed out East and are on pace to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2019.  

To put their success into perspective, this is the same team that lost 28 consecutive games last year, tying an NBA record. 

FanDuel had them pegged for 26.5 wins coming into the season which they’ve already covered.  

They’re the second-fastest team to do so this season, only a few days slower than the Portland Trail Blazers. 

A new coaching staff coupled with a revamped roster has set this team up for success around their first-time All-Star, Cade Cunningham. 

Perhaps earlier in the year, you could’ve dismissed their turnaround as a fluke.  

But with 20 or so games left, the sample size is large enough – Detroit is legit.  

All this winning has led to some notable swings in the player awards markets on FanDuel.  

Here’s what’s happening.  

Most Improved Player – Cade Cunningham (-220) 

All signs point to Cunningham locking up this award with momentum is in his favour.  

As the All-Star Weekend was happening, FanDuel’s traders anointed Norman Powell as their new front-runner to win MIP.  

The former Raptor is in the midst of a career-year at age 31, averaging career-highs in almost every stat category – points, assists, threes-made, field-goal percentage, and steals.  

Here are his year-over-year stat comparisons:  

2023-24 – 13.9 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 2.2 threes-made, 0.6 steals, 26.2 minutes 

2024-25 – 24.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 3.4 threes-made, 1.3 steals, 33.6 minutes 

If we’re measuring purely on statistical improvement, Powell is the award winner.  

But after Detroit defeated the defending champion Celtics by 20 points on Wednesday, Cunningham’s price skyrocketed to its current number.  

For reference, here are Cunningham’s last two seasons: 

2023-24 – 22.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.5 assists, 1.9 threes-made, 0.4 blocks, 33.5 minutes 

2024-25 – 25.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 9.5 assists, 2.3 three-made, 0.8 blocks, 35.5 minutes 

Not as eye-popping as Powell, but he does have two factors in his favour.  

Impact on winning – Cunningham will get the lion’s share of credit for elevating the Pistons from dead-last in the East last season to a Top 6 playoff berth. 

Good to great – The jump from rising star player to All-Star level is greater than going from average to good.  

When all’s said and done, if Detroit find themselves in the playoffs, you have to guess the voters will look for ways to reward this incredible turnaround.  

If you also look at the track-record for the past five MIP winners, all of them took home the George Mikan Trophy after making their first All-Star team.  

Cunningham will fall right in line with that pattern. 

I’m not calling this a slam dunk vote, but if Detroit stays sixth or better, that should get it done. 

Sixth Man of the Year – Malik Beasley (+280) 

A huge part of Detroit’s success has been the upgraded roster surrounding Cunningham.  

The front office has been crafty building a roster around their star guard fitting his strengths.  

We’ve seen the formula with LeBron James, Luka Doncic, and other ball dominant, physical playmakers.  

Get them good defenders and three-point capable wings.  

Beasley fits the formula. 

Him and starter, Tim Hardaway Jr., have offered added perimeter scoring punch for Cunningham.  

Even though Beasley comes off the bench, he’s the one leading the team in three-point makes and percentage.  

Compare his production league-wide and you’ll note he’s one of three players above 4.0 threes a night.  

The other two? Stephen Curry and Anthony Edwards.  

Elite company. 

What’s also going in his favour?  

Over this eight-game winning streak, he’s above 50 percent from deep and averaging 5.5 makes giving him a ton of credit for their winning ways.  

He’s up against Payton Pritchard who’s been a minus-money favourite since the beginning of December. 

Both players fit the mold of guys that traditionally win this award.  

The added layer is that the winner usually comes from a top-seeded team.  

It’s unlikely that the Pistons earn homecourt advantage come April, but with such a monumental turnaround from their last-place season, jumping up nine spots could be enough to lure voters to Beasley. 

Coach of the Year – J.B. Bickerstaff (+500) 

Looking at the past 10 winners of this award, seven of the coaches took home the trophy in either their first or second year with a new team.  

Now that Bickerstaff is in his first season with Detroit leading this storybook turnaround, it makes complete sense why he projects to be a finalist.  

He opened the year as a bottom-10 choice to hoist the Red Auerbach Trophy but has shrunk dramatically since the calendar flipped.  

At the start of this eight-game streak, he was 20-1 for the award.  

He now sits at +500, a significant vote of confidence from FanDuel’s traders. 

Hypothetically speaking, let’s assume the Pistons have locked up sixth or better.  

I’m here to tell you, it will not matter.  

Cleveland has way too many bullet points to list off that make this Kenny Atkinson’s to lose.  

These are the points I care about the most:  

I’m willing to bet Cleveland ends up with the NBA’s best record. When that happens, it’ll be an open and shut case for Atkinson. 

The challenge of going from good to elite is more difficult than bad to good. Even if both teams outpace their win total by 20 or so games, the jump from 48 to 68 is way more impressive than 26 to 46. 

Bickerstaff was fired by Cleveland after they won 48 games last year. With essentially the same roster, Atkinson has come in and got the Cavs on a 67-win pace. If Bickerstaff was such an elite coach, how does Atkinson got them doing so much better?  

Detroit has been a nice story but I’m absolutely not buying Bickerstaff’s threat to Atkinson’s case.