The Detroit Pistons open the season tonight at Little Caesars Arena. They have a new head coach in JB Bickerstaff. A new president of basketball operations in Trajan Langdon. They've added veterans around their young roster, and yet in the middle of it all - is the most important piece. Cade Cunningham, the former number-1 overall pick.
"It means a lot, man," Cunningham said on what it means to be the face of the Detroit Pistons. "It's a great honor for me, great honor for my family. I know how much this team means to the city, and so as far as having the trust from the organization in being the guy, it means a lot to me and I don't take that lightly."
Bickerstaff arrives with a more open-door policy, and has a young group that has a couple years of experience playing together. That being said, this rebuild has lasted far too long for most people in this town. Bickerstaff has to handle the tricky balance of trying to right the ship in both the short term and the long term.
"I'm trying not to pay attention to it," Bickerstaff said on the pressure from the fanbase to be good right away. "We know that the team together on the floor, if we play stylistically how we want to play, the fans will embrace this team. We want to play in a way that people can appreciate and respect. Every single day, we want to dive on the floor, take charges, we want to do the gritty things, the tough-minded things and we know if we play that way people will embrace us."
The Pistons face the Indiana Pacers tonight, with tip-off being set for 7 p.m.
