{"id":842430,"date":"2026-08-02T13:07:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:07:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/842430\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T13:07:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T13:07:15","slug":"detroit-pistons-could-still-make-biggest-offseason-splash-by-adding-kevin-durant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/842430\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Pistons Could Still Make Biggest Offseason Splash by Adding Kevin Durant"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"6z\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/pistons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Detroit Pistons<\/a> could emerge as a legitimate contender for one of the best offensive players in the NBA, giving the team the secondary scorer they desperately crave.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"72\">According to NBA insider Brett Siegel, the Pistons are in the running to land Kevin Durant should he eventually want another change of scenery as he continues the twilight of his career.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">However, there is no indication that Durant has requested a trade from the Houston Rockets, <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"78\">Siegel reported that Detroit would have a vested interest if the veteran forward became available. The potential target would also be motivated by Durant&#8217;s connection with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/pistons\/onsi\/cade-cunningham-recruited-nba-stars-to-pistons-so-why-did-they-say-no-01kyywxddxn0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Pistons\u2019 superstar Cade Cunningham.<\/a><\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">REPORT: The Pistons would loom large as a suitor for Kevin Durant if he were to ever want out of Houston, given his strong relationship with Cade Cunningham, per <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BrettSiegelNBA?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">@BrettSiegelNBA<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ixMqs4TVAi\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/ixMqs4TVAi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 \ud835\udd17\ud835\udd25\ud835\udd22 \ud835\udd07\ud835\udd22\ud835\udd31\ud835\udd2f\ud835\udd2c\ud835\udd26\ud835\udd31 \ud835\udd17\ud835\udd26\ud835\udd2a\ud835\udd22\ud835\udd30 \ud83d\udcf0 (@the_det_times) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/the_det_times\/status\/2083270274527486270?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7e\">&#8220;This offseason, the Rockets have refuted interest from teams inquiring about Durant&#8217;s availability, specifically from the Detroit Pistons,&#8221; Siegel wrote.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7h\">&#8220;Detroit would loom large as a suitor for Durant if he were to ever want out of Houston, given his strong relationship with All-Star guard Cade Cunningham.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Detroit, the appeal is obvious <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7n\">The Pistons enjoyed a 60-22 record to finish as the Eastern Conference&#8217;s No. 1 seed. Their season ended with a bitter loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but despite the poor showing in the postseason, there was promise heading into the offseason that they could put the pieces together to build a championship-ready roster<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7q\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/pistons\/onsi\/the-quiet-way-detroit-pistons-might-have-won-this-offseason-01kyypbmcb1k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">It\u2019s taken a bit of time,<\/a> but that&#8217;s where Durant could make an immediate impact.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-10\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7t\">Even at 37, Durant remains among the NBA&#8217;s most explosive offensive players. In his first season with the Rockets, Durant averaged 26.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists across 78 games while shooting 52% from the field, 41.3% from beyond the arc and 87.4% from the charity stripe.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7w\">His ability to create offense in isolation and punish defenses from all three levels would give Detroit another elite scoring option alongside Cunningham, easing the workload on the All-NBA guard during high-pressure playoff possessions.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7z\">Cunningham was the driving force behind Detroit&#8217;s turnaround, averaging 23.9 points, 9.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds in 64 games, en route to another All-Star selection and All-NBA First Team honors. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"82\">Pairing him with Durant would give the Pistons one of the league&#8217;s premier star duos while allowing Detroit to maintain its young core featuring Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson. It also could help accelerate Duren\u2019s contract situation, which is currently at a stalemate.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"85\">Meanwhile, Houston also ended with a winning mark during Durant&#8217;s first season, finishing 52-30 before falling to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-15\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"88\">Despite the early exit, there has been no public indication that Durant is unhappy with the organization or that he is looking to move elsewhere.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-16\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8b\">As a result, any discussion involving Detroit remains speculative for now. Still, should Durant&#8217;s situation change, the Pistons appear positioned to become one of the most interesting teams to watch.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Detroit Pistons could emerge as a legitimate contender for one of the best offensive players in the&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":842431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-842430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=842430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/842430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/842431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=842430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=842430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=842430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}