Cade Cunningham and the Detroit Pistons are fresh off of a playoff berth in the 2024-25 season when they were the most surprising team in the NBA.
Now, they’re looking to build on that in the 2025-26 season, starting with their season opener on the road against the Chicago Bulls.
Chicago brought back Josh Giddey this offseason, but the team didn’t make any major moves outside of trading Lonzo Ball to Cleveland for Isaac Okoro. The Bulls roster doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, but it should be good enough to be back in the play-in tournament mix in the East.
Oddsmakers are clearly much higher on the Pistons this season, even with Jaden Ivey sidelined to start the campaign with an injury. Detroit is a road favorite on Wednesday night, and it is favored to make the playoffs in the East.
Let’s take a look at the odds, players to target in the prop market and my prediction for Wednesday night’s matchup.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.
Spread
Moneyline
Total
Pistons Injury Report
Bulls Injury Report
Bulls Best NBA Prop Bet
Josh Giddey had a strong finish to the regular season for Chicago, but he still finished the campaign averaging just 14.7 points on 11.4 shots per game.
A terrific playmaker, Giddey isn’t known to hunt his shot, and even with Coby White out, I think this prop is a tad too high in the season opener for Chicago.
Giddey averaged 21.2 points per game after the All-Star break last season, but he also shot 45.7 percent from 3 during that stretch. For his career, Giddey is just a 33.0 percent shooter from beyond the arc.
Detroit was 10th in the NBA in defensive rating last season, and I wouldn’t be shocked if it tries to slow down Giddey with Ausar Thompson on opening night. I’ll fade the Bulls guard with oddsmakers setting his points total nearly six points higher than he finished in the 2024-25 campaign.
The Pistons are one of my favorite bets of the night, even though they have a lot of new pieces in the fold this season.
Detroit was 3-1 against Chicago last season, winning the final three meetings between the two teams, and it did attempt to upgrade the roster with Caris LeVert, Duncan Robinson and Javonte Green in the offseason.
While losing Jaden Ivey to start the season is tough, Detroit still is in a great spot against the Bulls, who are down one of their top scorers in Coby White.
Chicago is relying a lot on the development of second-year wing Matas Buzelis, and the Bulls don’t have a ton of proven depth on their roster after a play-in tournament finish last season.
With White out, I’m not sold on Chicago pulling off an upset against a Detroit team that was 10th in defensive rating and 12th in net rating during the 2024-25 season.
Pick: Pistons -3.5 (-115 at DraftKings)
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
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Find Peter Dewey’s NBA betting record here (futures included). You can also follow my daily plays on BetStamp here.
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