Pistons Roll Out Wild New Starting Five Ahead of Knicks Matchup

The Detroit Pistons are rolling out a starting five of Cade Cunningham, Robinson, Ausar Thompson, Zach Collins, and Paul Reed on Tuesday night, according to Underdog NBA.

If you had that exact combination on your preseason bingo card, you are either a time traveler or a liar. But whatever Detroit is doing right now is actually working.

"Underdog NBA tweeted: 'Lineup alert: Pistons will start Cunningham, Robinson, Thompson, Collins, Reed on Tuesday.'"

The Pistons are coming off back-to-back road wins, hanging 128 points on Miami before locking down Philadelphia in a 106-93 victory. Now they take this newly minted starting five on the road to face the New York Knicks.

Cade Cunningham is the obvious engine here, but surrounding him with Thompson's elite athleticism and a frontcourt of Collins and Reed is a fascinating choice. Reed brings pure chaos energy on the glass, while Collins stretches the floor just enough to keep the paint from looking like a rush-hour traffic jam.

For the fantasy managers and prop bettors scrambling to adjust, this lineup shift means a total reshuffling of usage rates. Cunningham is going to eat as the primary creator, but the rebounding props for Reed and Collins just got a lot more interesting with them sharing the floor from the opening tip.

We will see if this group can keep the early-season momentum alive against New York. If Detroit pulls off a third straight win with this crew, it might be time to start taking them seriously.