Projecting the 2026 Detroit Pistons’ starting lineup after John Collins signing

The Detroit Pistons have reportedly made a new addition to their roster with the signing of forward John Collins.

According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Pistons are signing Collins to a three-year, $51 million contract in free agency.

Charania notes that the plan is for Collins to start at power forward.

“The Pistons pursued Collins as their top target to assume an expected starting role at power forward — completing a deal with his agents Sean Kennedy and Jeff Schwartz of Excel Sports Management this morning,” Charania wrote.

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Knowing that, here’s how things could shake out with Detroit’s starting lineup next season.

Pistons’ projected lineup with John Collins

PG: Cade Cunningham
SG: Isaiah Joe
SF: Ausar Thompson
PF: John Collins
C: Jalen Duren (restricted free agent) or Paul Reed

The signing of Collins means Tobias Harris won’t be back, which is not surprising after it was reported he was unlikely to return to the Pistons next season.

Duren, who wasn’t thrilled with the Pistons’ offer, remains a wild card in all of this.

The former first-round pick is meeting with the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, per The Athletic’s Sam Amick, and rumor has it the Lakers and Kings have serious interest in him, and more specifically the Lakers have told Duren they view him as a maximum-salary player.

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However, the Pistons have full control over Duren and can match any offer sheet he receives in order to retain the center, who is coming off a career-best season that saw him tally 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

It remains to be seen if the Pistons would match a maximum-salary offer from the Lakers, but there’s at least a chance it happens.

Amick adds that the Pistons have been “sending strong signals in recent days that they will either match offer sheets that come their way or refuse to cooperate in sign-and-trades.”

Without Duren, the Pistons’ lineup would look a lot worse, as Paul Reed would step in at center for the time being.

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Like Harris, Collins averaged over 13 points per contest last season, but we know he’s capable of producing more after tallying 19 per with the Utah Jazz in 2025-26.

Collins offers an upgrade over Harris as a three-point shooter after making over 40% last season.

Joe is another new addition after a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He will push Duncan Robinson to the bench.