It's a turnaround year like none other for the Pistons, and the best may still be yet to come

The Detroit Pistons were three minutes into their first preseason game back in October. They were already trailing by double digits against the Milwaukee Bucks. And J.B. Bickerstaff called time out to settle his team down.

He still remembers the crowd reaction.

“They booed us,” the Pistons’ first-year coach said.

They’re not booing in Detroit anymore. The Pistons — the team that lost 28 consecutive games last season — are 40-32, on the brink of clinching a winning record. They're assured of no worse than a play-in tournament berth and control their own destiny for a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. They’ve increased their win total by 26 games over last season, already the biggest one-year turnaround in franchise history.

They are ahead of schedule. And they are one of the best surprises in the NBA this season.

“The plan was always to win. The plan was to be better in January than we were in November and to be better in March than we were in January,” Pistons general manager Trajan Langdon said. “I always told my people, ‘I don’t know what that’s going to mean ultimately, but that’s what we’re going to set out to do.’

“But to say that with 10 games left we’re going to be at 40 wins, I would have lost that bet.”

They've hit all the right notes this season. Cade Cunningham, who former GM Troy Weaver insisted on making the No. 1 overall pick in 2021, made his first All-Star team, is a serious All-NBA candidate and is averaging 25.7 points and 9.2 assists per game — numbers that only nine players have finished a season with and numbers that only Denver's Nikola Jokic has so far this season.

Cunningham played in every game during that 28-game slide a year ago. He's savoring the fact that Detroit will see postseason basketball one season later.

“It’s something that we had all envisioned," Cunningham said. "As young guys, we had to find a way to climb to the top of the mountain. And we had a rough go early, as everybody can see. To stay with it, to continue to dig deep, this year has been super rewarding for all of us and we’re still super hungry.”

Cunningham is the leader. He's the star. He's not the only reason why Detroit is winning.

A pair of veterans — Tobias Harris and Tim Hardaway Jr. — arrived after last season, are mainstays in the starting lineup and have been the 30somethings that a team of 20somethings desperately needed. Jalen Duren, a center in his third year, is averaging a double-double and shooting 70%. Malik Beasley entered Monday 17th in the league this season in fast-break points. And the Pistons have kept winning even while playing for basically the last three months without 17-point scorer Jaden Ivey, out with a broken leg.

At the helm of it all is Bickerstaff, who was fired by Cleveland after making the second round of the playoffs a year ago. He took over in Detroit after the Pistons fired Monty Williams with five years and $65 million left on his contract. But Langdon reached out with a vision, one that owner Tom Gores clearly backs, and it didn't take long for Bickerstaff to buy in.

“Timing was important," Bickerstaff said. “At the time, I had been off for about a month, and I was just spending a ton of time with my family and going to soccer tournaments and all that stuff. But I was a little antsy. So, when Trajan called, I was excited just to see and explore what the opportunity may be.

”Looking at the roster, looking at the guys that were on the team, the young guys, it was a group that I thought my skillset and personality kind of matched. And I was intrigued.”

They started 0-4. They were 9-15 in early December, 13-17 at Christmas.

And then Dec. 26 happened — a game at Sacramento where the Pistons trailed by 19 in the third quarter, by 10 with 2:45 left and won 114-113 on a four-point play from Ivey with 3.1 seconds remaining. That was part of a stretch where Detroit won 10 out of 12, capped by a victory in Madison Square Garden over New York.

Detroit was a game under .500 in early February, then ripped off an eight-game winning streak — punctuated by a 20-point win over Boston. Just like that, the Pistons were seven games over .500. It was obvious then that the playoffs would await; the berth still isn't technically clinched, but it's happening.

“They’re aware of where they are," Bickerstaff said. "What I think they’ve done a really good job of is not looking ahead and missing the moments. This team has found its consistency because it approaches every day the same, whether it’s a practice day or game day. The focus is on that day, whatever our task is at hand, without looking too far ahead.”

This probably isn't a one-year wonder in Detroit. Duren is 21. Ausar Thompson is 22. Ivey is 22. Cunningham is 23. The Pistons should have some cap space to play with this coming summer. It's not hard to envision this team being even better a year from now.

It is a happy group. And the best might still be yet to come.

“I have 1,000% fallen in love with this group," Bickerstaff said. “And all my focus goes into them and seeing them elevate and seeing them grow. That’s the thing that I find the most joy in."

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Detroit Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, right, talks with guard Malik Beasley (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Thursday, March 13, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Pistons forward Ronald Holland II (00) celebrates with guard Malik Beasley (5) during the fourth quarter of an NBA basketball game against the Washington Wizards, Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Pistons guard Dennis Schroder (17) celebrates during the final minute of the Pistons' win over the New Orleans Pelicans in an NBA basketball game Sunday, March 23, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) is cheered by his teammates after scoring the winning basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) is cheered by his teammates after scoring the winning basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) celebrates after scoring the winning basket during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in Miami. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — President Donald Trump says he will speak by phone Monday with Russian leader Vladimir Putin about the war in Ukraine.

Trump said in a social media post Saturday that the subject will be “STOPPING THE 'BLOODBATH.”

The American president said he also then plans to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and members of NATO.

“HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A PRODUCTIVE DAY,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social site.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A Russian drone hit a bus evacuating civilians from a front-line area in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region Saturday, killing nine people, Ukrainian officials said, hours after Moscow and Kyiv had held their first direct peace talks in years that failed to yield a ceasefire.

Seven people were also injured in the attack in Bilopillia, a town around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from Russia's border, three of them seriously, according to local Gov. Oleh Hryhorov and Ukraine’s national police. The Associated Press couldn't independently verify the report. There was no comment from Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “deliberate killing of civilians,” adding in a post on Telegram messaging app that "Russians could scarcely not realize what kind of vehicle they were hitting.”

He lamented the missed opportunity from Friday's peace talks, saying that “Ukraine has long proposed this — a full and unconditional ceasefire in order to save lives.”

"Russia only retains the ability to continue killing,” Zelenskyy added.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said he was “appalled” by the attack. “If Putin is serious about peace, Russia must agree to a full and immediate ceasefire, as Ukraine has done,” he wrote on X.

In Bilopillia, a period of mourning was declared through Monday. Local community chief Yurii Zarko called the day “Black Saturday.” The injured were taken to a hospital in Sumy, the regional capital.

The local media outlet Suspilne said the passengers on the bus were being evacuated from the town when the strike happened. Authorities are working to identify some of the victims, most of them elderly women.

Russia's defense ministry claimed its forces hit a military staging area in the Sumy region on Saturday morning, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) southeast of Bilopillia, without mentioning any other attacks there.

According to a Washington-based think tank, Ukrainian forces have been inching forward into Russian territory in the Kursk region, just north of Bilopillia. The Institute for the Study of War said last week Ukrainian troops had advanced south of the Russian border village of Tyotkino.

Russia said last month that its forces had fully reclaimed the Kursk region, nearly nine months after a lightning incursion by Kyiv captured more than 100 settlements there and promised to hand Ukraine a bargaining chip in possible negotiations with the Kremlin. Ukrainian officials claimed fighting in Kursk is ongoing.

Russian shelling, drones and airstrikes killed at least five other civilians on Friday and overnight across Ukraine's Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kherson regions, according to local officials there.

Russian forces overnight also launched 62 drones, Ukraine's air force reported. It said 36 of the drones were shot down and six more veered off course, likely due to electronic jamming.

Russian and Ukrainian officials met Friday in Istanbul in an attempt to reach a temporary ceasefire, but the talks ended after less than two hours without a breakthrough. It was the first face-to-face dialogue between the two sides since the early weeks of Moscow’s February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Hopes for a breakthrough were dashed after Russian President Vladimir Putin spurned Zelenskyy's offer to meet face-to-face in Turkey. Putin's no-show came days after he himself proposed negotiations in Istanbul “without preconditions,” as an alternative to the “full and unconditional” ceasefire urged by Ukraine and its Western allies, including the U.S.

While both sides agreed on a large prisoner swap, they remained far apart on key conditions for ending the fighting.

One such condition for Ukraine, backed by its Western allies, is a temporary ceasefire as a first step toward a peaceful settlement. The Kremlin has pushed back against such a truce, which remains elusive.

Zelenskyy said he had discussed the outcome of the Istanbul talks with U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of France, Germany, Britain and Poland. In a post on X from a European leadership meeting in Albania on Friday, he urged “tough sanctions” against Moscow if it rejects “a full and unconditional ceasefire and an end to killings.”

Kyiv and Moscow agreed to exchange 1,000 prisoners of war each, according to the heads of both delegations, in what would be their biggest such swap. Ukraine's intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, said on Ukrainian TV on Saturday the exchange could happen as early as next week.

The sides also discussed a ceasefire and a meeting between their heads of state, according to the chief Ukrainian delegate, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov.

Russian delegation head Vladimir Medinsky, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, said both sides also agreed to provide each other with detailed ceasefire proposals, with Ukraine requesting the heads of state meeting, which Russia took under consideration.

The Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, on Saturday held open the possibility of Putin holding talks with Zelenskyy, providing the agreed prisoner swap goes ahead and if Russian and Ukrainian delegations reached unspecified further “agreements.”

Peskov also told reporters that Moscow will present Ukraine with a list of conditions for a ceasefire but gave no timeframe, or say what needed to happen before Zelenskyy and Putin can meet.

In Tirana, Albania, Zelenskyy met with leaders of 47 European countries to discuss security, defense and democratic standards against the backdrop of the war., including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

“Pressure on Russia must be maintained until Russia is ready to end the war,” Zelenskyy said on X.

Macron in Tirana on Saturday accused Putin of “cynicism” and said that Russia has failed to “respect” ceasefire proposals backed by the U.S. and other Western nations.

The French president reiterated that a European “coalition of the willing” is ready to give Ukraine security guarantees and “put pressure on Russia," something he said he expected Trump would support.

“Faced with President Putin's cynicism, I believe that ... in fact, I'm sure that President Trump, concerned about the credibility of the United States of America, will react,” he said.

Kozlowska reported from London. Associated Press writers Hanna Arhirova in Istanbul and Llazar Semini in Tirana, Albania, contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, rescuers recover the bodies of passengers after a Russian drone struck a passenger bus at the village of Bilopillya in the Sumy region, Ukraine, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)

Russian and Ukrainian delegations attend talks at the Dolmabache palace, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 16, 2025. (Ramil Sitdikov, Sputnik Pool Photo via AP)

From left, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, France's President Emmanuel Macron and Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama attend a plenary meeting at the beginning of a summit where the leaders of 47 European countries and organizations will discuss security, defense and democratic standards, in Tirana, Albania, Friday, May 16, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool via AP)

President of France Emmanuel Macron, left, and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a summit where the leaders of 47 European countries and organizations will discuss security, defense and democratic standards, in Tirana, Albania, Friday, May 16, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool via AP)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks on the phone during a meeting at the European Political Community summit in Skanderbeg Square in Tirana, Albania, on Friday, May 16, 2025. (Leon Neal/Pool via AP)

Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov talks to journalists, in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, May 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)