The Detroit Pistons are entering the 2025-26 NBA season with completely different expectations from a year ago. They will no longer be the young, exciting, up-and-coming team that will catch opponents by surprise. Instead, they will hopefully be challenging for a top-four seed in the Eastern Conference.
However, they still have some pressing questions to answer as we head into preseason and the start of the regular season. For Pistons fans, perhaps the biggest of them all is a familiar one: Will the team have enough shooting?
Do the Pistons Have Enough Shooters This Season?
The Pistons solved this issue last year with the additions of Malik Beasley and Tim Hardaway Jr. The two veteran sharpshooters incredibly accounted for over 46.3% of the 1,051 three-pointers Detroit made last season. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff ran a ton of plays for the two shooters, giving them other reliable weapons on offense that were not a Cade Cunningham pick-and-roll or isolation.
Now, both Beasley and Hardaway are gone. There was a chance Beasley seemed like he was on his way to returning to Detroit following the latest update from the federal investigation involving him, but those odds may be dwindling. Beasley was not only the best shooter on the team last season, but was also one of the most elite options from downtown in terms of both volume and accuracy. He was the only player in the league who attempted nine threes per game and hit over 41%.
That is why replacing him will be the most important challenge for the Pistons next season. General manager Trajan Langdon attempted to replace the departed players Beasley, Hardaway, and Dennis Schröder with Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert.
Robinson has been a very good shooter throughout his career, but hasn't hit over 40% from downtown in any of his last four seasons in Miami. LeVert is an improved shooter, but he is more of an open shooter type of guy rather than a true bomber from downtown.
If Jaden Ivey's improved shooting from last season before his injury continues, the overall team shooting will be less of an issue. If he is more of an average shooter, however, the Pistons will be a very spacing-challenged team.
This could prevent Cade Cunningham from leading this team to new heights, at least on the offensive side of the ball. As we approach opening day, how consistently the Pistons will make shots will be one of the most important questions on fans' minds.