With Cade Cunningham firing on all cylinders throughout the season, the Detroit Pistons have emerged as a major force in the current campaign. They currently lead the Eastern Conference with a 49-19 record. A similar uptrend has also been evident with the Toronto Raptors, who finished last season 11th in the East but are currently placed 5th with a 38-29 record.
However, for former Toronto head coach Sam Mitchell, the Raptors may be even more talented than the Pistons despite the two teams’ current records, per a post on X by Omer Osman.
“You think about Cade Cunningham, who’s their second-best player? Look at the Raptors. You got Scottie Barnes and BI. Those are your 2 best players,” he said during his appearance on TSN, citing the vast difference between the Pistons' best and second-best players.
That may be understandable considering Cunningham is the only player the Pistons have who averages more than twenty points per game, with Duncan Robinson, who is going at 19 per game, the only other player to average more than 15 points a pop. In comparison, the Raptors have a more balanced offensive engine with RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes all averaging more than 15 points per game.
“You look at the Center position. Jakob Pöltl and Duren? About the same. So if you look at this Raptors team, and you look at what players have accomplished, on the Raptors, you can make an argument the Raptors may be a better team, as far as talent, than Detroit,” Mitchell concluded.
Of course, Mitchell does have a point considering the Raptors are hardly seen as the favorites to get out of the Eastern Conference. Detroit does have an offensive engine that is vastly dependent on Cunningham.
However, they have still gone 5-2 without their main man and fans will argue that their scoring is actually a result of a hugely physical bad boys-throwback kind of basketball that they have adopted under J.B. Bickerstaff. That has resulted in a stellar 25-8 home record this season, something which can be expected to extend into the playoffs as well.
