Pistons Roll Out Chaotic Starting Five Against Nets

The Detroit Pistons are rolling out a starting five on Friday night that looks like a 2K auto-generated roster after you accidentally simmed past the trade deadline.

According to Underdog NBA, Detroit is officially starting Cade Cunningham, Jerome Robinson, Ausar Thompson, John Collins, and Paul Reed against the Brooklyn Nets.

"Underdog NBA reported the lineup alert."

If you had Jerome Robinson starting a meaningful NBA game on your 2026 bingo card, you are either related to him (and even then, you were probably doubting it) or you need to be investigated for time travel.

The wildest part of this whole experiment is that Detroit is actually good right now. The Pistons are sitting at 4-1 and leading the Eastern Conference, boasting a top-five defensive rating at 106.3.

They just locked up the Charlotte Hornets 97-89 on Wednesday and dropped 128 points on the Miami Heat earlier this week.

For anyone holding Cunningham props, this lineup means he is going to have the ball in his hands until the leather physically peels off. He is already averaging 22.6 points and 7.8 assists per game, and his usage rate is about to skyrocket.

The floor spacing might be a little cramped with Thompson and Reed out there, but the sheer athleticism and rebounding should be an absolute nightmare for Brooklyn to deal with. Reed is already pulling down 7.6 boards a night, and Collins gives them enough vertical gravity to keep defenses honest.

We will see if this chaotic group can run the Nets out of the gym on Friday night or if the half-court offense turns into a rock fight. Either way, Detroit basketball is officially interesting again, which might be the most absurd plot twist of the young season.