Scouting the Sixers' competition: Detroit Pistons hoping to level up again

While the Sixers still have some business to attend to before their offseason can be complete, most of their Eastern Conference cohorts have just about wrapped up their work ahead of the 2025-26 season in the fall.

Now is as good of a time as ever to survey the landscape of an Eastern Conference that has lost a pair of championship-caliber teams due to superstar injuries. Very few sure things exist in the conference this year, and there is plenty of opportunity for new contenders to arise.

The Sixers are running back a roster fairly similar to the one that finished out last season in hopes of improved health and continued development from younger players propelling them back into contention. But how have the teams they will have to surpass changed over the summer?

Up next: the Detroit Pistons, whose long run of futility ended last year when a new front office, coaching staff and veterans helped uplift a young nucleus from a perennial spot at the bottom of the standings to a competitive playoff series. Cade Cunningham is the primary building block in Detroit, but the Pistons have plenty of intriguing young players. Can they make another leap?

SCOUTING THE SIXERS' COMPETITION

Boston Celtics | Indiana Pacers | Cleveland Cavaliers

New York Knicks | Milwaukee Bucks | Detroit Pistons

Roster changes

With a few important free agents and plenty of financial flexibility, the Pistons were going to be one of the more interesting teams to monitor in free agency. Their situation became even more fascinating when one of those key free agents, Malik Beasley, became part of a gambling investigation. Last week, news broke that Beasley is not the target of the investigation, which could open the door for him to play in the NBA next season. Time will tell on that front, but Detroit operated under the assumption that Beasley would not be back:

Added: Caris LeVert (free agency), Duncan Robinson (sign-and-trade), Javonte Green (free agency), Chaz Lanier (No. 37 pick in NBA Draft)

Retained: Paul Reed

Extended: none

Lost: Dennis Schröder, Tim Hardaway Jr., Simone Fontecchio

Fontecchio was likely to be on the outskirts of Detroit's rotation, so the Pistons used him to help acquire Robinson and replace some of the shooting lost via the departures of Beasley and Hardaway. Replacing Schröder's backup ball-handling will be LeVert, who is also more than capable of playing off the ball alongside Cunningham. Additionally, the Pistons are set to bring back Jaden Ivey after a brutal leg injury caused him to miss the last four months of his third NBA season. Ivey will provide a significant jolt as far as shot creation is concerned. 

Depth chart projection

Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff could go in quite a few different directions filling out his starting lineup, but the likeliest scenario is sticking with Ivey next to Cunningham in the backcourt and banking on more development from the burgeoning defensive stopper Ausar Thompson:

If the Pistons can add Beasley to this group using his non-Bird rights, they will have one of the deeper teams in the Eastern Conference with 10 rotation-caliber players. That seems unlikely for now, but Detroit should have enough shooting with the additions of Robinson and LeVert plus Ivey's return. When Isaiah Stewart went down in the playoffs last season, they turned to old friend Paul Reed at backup center and he gave them solid minutes. Another old friend, Tobias Harris, played quite well for the Pistons and was routinely credited for being an important leader in their locker room.

Sixers ties

The two connections between the Sixers and Pistons are Harris and Reed, of course. After a massively disappointing run on a five-year, $180 million contract, Harris seemed to benefit from reduced scrutiny and lesser expectations in Detroit. It might be maddening to some, but it is understandable.

Reed was waived last July when the Sixers needed to shed his non-guaranteed salary to facilitate the signing of Caleb Martin. Detroit, with a bunch of cap space sitting around, claimed him because there was no opportunity cost. The Pistons waived him soon before his midseason guarantee date, but immediately re-signed him for the remainder of the season. Reed signed a new two-year deal with the Pistons worth just under $11 million over the summer.

MORE: Harris, Reed reflect on Sixers tenures