East Notes: Pistons, Cade Cunningham, Sixers, Paul George, Raptors

Pistons

The Pistons landed their best spot in ESPN’s long-term power rankings since 2017. Why?

Well, Cade Cunningham’s All-NBA leap in his fourth season has given Detroit a true franchise anchor, ESPN writes, and the front office now has the flexibility to build around him in Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson.

With all their future picks in hand and another expected top-six finish in the East, ESPN opines that Detroit could climb even higher next year.

76ers

Philadelphia took the biggest tumble in this year’s rankings, dropping 15 spots. As ESPN explains, what started with the splash signing of Paul George quickly unraveled into a season of injuries for both George and Joel Embiid.

The Sixers kept their top-six protected pick but owe the star duo more than $100 million over the next three years.

The team’s future, ESPN writes, hinges entirely on whether those two can stay healthy.

Raptors

Toronto’s recent roster reset remains a work in progress, per ESPN. The Raptors traded away the last remnants of their 2019 title team — Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam — for Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett and Brandon Ingram.

Meanwhile, longtime president Masai Ujiri has exited, Ed Rogers is set to assume ownership control, and Bobby Webster now leads basketball ops.

So, yeah, as ESPN notes, this season should reveal whether the shakeup was the right move.