Pistons Notes: Depth, Cunningham, Jenkins, Sasser, More
Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has used an extended rotation for much of the season, with 11 players currently on the roster averaging at least 16.8 minutes per game. As Hunter Patterson of The Athletic details, that depth will be tested in the short term, with two of the team’s most important players – Cade Cunningham (collapsed lung) and Isaiah Stewart (calf strain) – currently unavailable.
“We’re so comfortable with the depth and the guys that we have, and they’ve proven they can help us,” Bickerstaff said earlier in March. “Typically, in the past, nine is a great number (for a playoff rotation). But, s–t, we’re struggling to get away from 12. Because there are so many guys that have played for us this year that have helped us win. So, there’s going to be some situational decisions.”
In those comments to the media a couple weeks ago, Bickerstaff went on to single out Paul Reed, Marcus Sasser, and Daniss Jenkins as reserves who have made the most of opportunities to play rotation roles. As Patterson points out, all three of those three players – along with Kevin Huerter – have received DNP-CDs at times when Detroit is closer to full health, but they’ll likely be relied upon for regular minutes with Cunningham and Stewart out.
In addition to looking to help the Pistons maintain their spot atop the Eastern Conference, players like Reed, Sasser, Jenkins, and Huerter could also be making their cases for places in the team’s playoff rotation based on how they perform in the next couple weeks, Patterson adds.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- When they confirmed today that Cunningham is dealing with a collapsed lung, the Pistons ruled out the star guard for two weeks. How much more time might he miss beyond that initial timeline? That remains to be seen, but Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press spoke on Thursday to Dr. Panagis Galiatsatos – a pulmonologist at Johns Hopkins – about what causes a collapsed lung, what the recovery process looks like, and what needs to happen before Cunningham returns. “The big thing I would make the case of is recognizing a collapsed lung is serious and what’s frustrating for an athlete is they’re going to feel good the second it re-inflates and they’re going to want to go back out there,”Galiatsatos said. “What we need to be mindful of is the lung is going to still take a few weeks to fully heal, because it is an injury because the tissue got torn. You want it to not just heal over, you want it to be fully secure.”
- Patterson, Jay King, and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic take a look at how Cunningham’s health condition will impact the Eastern Conference playoff race, with all three reporters predicting that Detroit will hang onto the No. 1 seed for the rest of the regular season — the Pistons currently have a 3.5-game lead over second-place Boston. Cunningham’s ability to return before or during the first round of the postseason could be crucial, The Athletic’s trio notes, since there are some dangerous teams near the bottom of the East’s playoff picture.
- In a separate story for The Detroit Free Press (subscription required), Sankofa looks at three areas of concern for the Pistons to shore up in the final 14 games of the regular season. In addition to outside shooting and finding the right balance between shooting and defense, one of those areas Sankofa highlights is “non-Cunningham ball-handling.” In the wake of the star guard’s diagnosis, there should be plenty of opportunities to go around for players like Jenkins, Sasser, Huerter, Ausar Thompson, and Caris LeVert.
Community Shootaround: Most Improved Player Race
In recent years, media voters responsible for determining the NBA’s Most Improved Player on an annual basis have frequently favored a specific kind of player. From 2020-24, each of the five winners of the award entered the season as an already solid starter and made the leap to stardom over the course of the year, earning his first All-Star nod a few months before being named the league’s Most Improved Player.
While Brandon Ingram (2020), Julius Randle (2021), Ja Morant (2022), Lauri Markkanen (2023), and Tyrese Maxey (2024) all met this criteria, voters deviated from their usual habits in 2025, rewarding Dyson Daniels of the Hawks for his improvement following a trade that sent him from New Orleans to Atlanta.
Daniels, who made modest contributions off the bench in his two seasons as a Pelican, took a major step forward during his first year as a Hawk, but he wasn’t named an All-Star and wasn’t an impact player on the offensive end, where he averaged 14.1 points and 4.4 assists per game with a .340 3PT%.
In 2026, it appears likely that voters will once again reward a player making the jump from “very good” to “star,” with three intriguing candidates to choose from in that group.
The current betting favorite to be Most Improved Player is Pistons center Jalen Duren. He has been Detroit’s starting center since midway through his rookie year in 2022/23, but has been more impactful than ever for one of the league’s best teams in ’25/26, increasing his scoring average from 11.8 points per game to 19.0 PPG and making his first All-Star team.
Like Duren, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson and Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija are first-time All-Stars this season and are considered strong contenders for Most Improved Player honors.
While it’s true that Johnson (22.9 PPG, 10.5 RPG, and 8.1 APG) and Avdija (24.2 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 6.7 APG) have never been this good for a full year, the Hawks forward wasn’t far off from this level during the first half of 2024/25 before a shoulder injury ended his season prematurely, and the Trail Blazers forward is in a similar boat — he wrapped up last season by averaging 23.3 PPG, 9.7 RPG, and 5.2 APG with elite shooting numbers after the All-Star break.
If voters believe the gap between what Johnson and Avdija were in 2024/25 and what they are now isn’t all that big, they may favor a player like Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker or Bucks guard Ryan Rollins. Neither player was an All-Star this season, but each of them has impressed in his first extended run as a starter.
Zach Harper of The Athletic believes Alexander-Walker should be leading the MIP race, pointing out that the 27-year-old, who has always been a solid defender, has taken on far more offensive responsibilities without sacrificing his efficiency. Alexander-Walker’s scoring average of 20.3 points per game is nearly double his previous career high (11.0 PPG), but his true shooting percentage of 59.4% is also a career best. He has continued to knock down his three-pointers at a 39.0% clip, well above his career rate, despite launching 8.1 per game.
As for Rollins, the former second-rounder is playing 32.3 minutes per game in Milwaukee this season after averaging 11.9 MPG in his first 81 NBA outings, but like Alexander-Walker, his efficiency hasn’t dropped off as his usage increased. Rollins has increased his per-game averages from 6.2 PPG, 1.9 APG, and 1.9 RPG last season to 16.8 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 4.6 RPG in ’25/26 while hitting a career-high 41.2% of his three-pointers. The Bucks have also been six points per 100 possessions better when Rollins is on the court, one of the best marks on the team.
We want to know what you think. Do you favor one of the league’s new stars like Duren, Johnson, or Avdija in this year’s Most Improved Player race, or do you think a non-star like Alexander-Walker or Rollins has made more substantial strides? What would your three-man ballot look like at this point?
Head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!
Heat Still Expected To Waive Rozier Before Postseason
Veteran guard Terry Rozier has remained on the Heat‘s roster all season long despite being placed on leave back in October after he was arrested on federal charges related to illegal gambling. However, Rozier’s time under contract with the team is nearing an end, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald.
Rozier isn’t expected to be on the Heat’s postseason roster, according to Chiang, who hears from a source that the club will likely waive the veteran guard in the coming weeks in order to add a new 15th man.
While the Heat kept Rozier on their roster through the trade deadline in case an opportunity arose to use his expiring $26.6MM for salary-matching purposes in a deal, there has been little reason to hang onto him since then. Miami has more than enough breathing room below the luxury tax line to waive Rozier, eat his remaining salary, and sign a replacement to a rest-of-season, minimum-salary contract.
Still, as Chiang explains, the Heat have felt little urgency to make a move involving Rozier’s roster spot since they’ve had no depth-related challenges during the second half of the season. Despite some injuries, the team hasn’t had much playing time available for several youngsters already under contract, including Keshad Johnson and two-way players Trevor Keels, Jahmir Young, and Vladislav Goldin.
Holding off on making a move with that 15th roster spot will also give the club some flexibility to pivot in case health problems impact a specific spot on the depth chart late in the season, Chiang observes. For instance, if a couple guards suffer injuries in the coming weeks, Miami could focus on adding another piece to its backcourt ahead of the postseason.
While there are no shortage of veterans available in free agency, promoting one of their two-way players in order to lock him up to a multiyear deal and make him playoff-eligible would also be an option for the Heat if there are no vets they’re especially high on, Chiang adds.
Because Rozier is on an expiring contract, he’ll have to be waived on or before April 9 to ensure he clears waivers before the last day of the regular season, as our list of key in-season dates shows.
Hoops Rumors Front Office Subscriber Chat Transcript: 3/19/2026
Hoops Rumors’ Arthur Hill held a live chat today exclusively for Trade Rumors Front Office subscribers. Topics included the Lakers' hold on the No. 3 seed and their playoff chances, the reasons for the Rockets' offensive woes, the power struggle between the Bucks and Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Hawks' options for a center upgrade, players to watch in March Madness and more!
Atlantic Notes: Garza, Raptors, Ingram, Sixers
A star at the college level for Iowa, big man Luka Garza was a two-time first-team All-American and was named the AP’s Player of the Year as a senior in 2020/21. However, due to concerns about how his game would translate to the pros, he fell to No. 52 in the 2021 draft and had trouble cracking the Pistons’ and Timberwolves’ rotations during his first four years in the NBA.
Now 27 years old and in his fifth NBA season, Garza is averaging a career-high 15.6 minutes per game through 59 appearances for the 46-23 Celtics, contributing 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds per night with a strong shooting line of .569/.436/.770. Speaking to Spencer Davies of RG.org, the veteran forward/center said he had to commit to learning new skills beyond the ones that helped him excel in the NCAA game.
“Every summer, I dedicate myself, and even during the season, to improving myself, especially in the seasons where I didn’t play as much,” Garza told Davies. “That’s my main focus: getting better. I think, especially in the NBA, you’ve got to be able to adapt and change your game or mold it to find a way to have an impact on great teams.
“So for me, that impact is a little different than it was in college. Not playing as much back to the basket, not having the ball in my hands every possession like I did. But I think I’ve found ways to be extremely effective through screening, through offensive rebounding, and through scoring when the ball is in my hands in different moments. Picking and popping, shooting, stretching the floor. Adding the slow step, other stuff into my game has really helped me. And so, yeah, I definitely developed, and I’m a lot better than I was back then.”
The Celtics made Garza a priority in free agency last summer when they traded away Kristaps Porzingis and lost Al Horford and Luke Kornet to rival suitors. He received a guaranteed two-year, minimum-salary contract, meaning he’ll be on a team-friendly $2.8MM cap hit next season before becoming eligible for unrestricted free agency again in 2027.
We have more from around the Atlantic:
- While it might not happen right away, the expectation is that the Raptors, who are currently carrying 14 players on standard contracts, will sign a player to a 10-day deal to fill their 15th roster spot before making a rest-of-season commitment to anyone, reports Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.
- In his first full season with the Raptors, forward Brandon Ingram has appeared in 66 games and counting, his highest single-season total since his rookie season in 2016/17. While there’s an element of luck involved in Ingram’s availability, he and the Raptors also put a lot of effort into keeping him healthy this year, as Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca details (Twitter links). “It took a lot of work, a lot of preparation, a lot of dedication from everybody,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said. “I am super grateful for the group of people we have that care so much, and for BI and the way he has handled the whole process.”
- Tony Jones of The Athletic explores best- and worst-case scenarios for the rest of the Sixers‘ season, noting that – while it’s a long shot – there’s still an outcome in play where they’re eliminated in the play-in tournament and then move into the top four of the draft on lottery night, keeping their protected first-round pick that would otherwise be sent to Oklahoma City.
Cade Cunningham Facing Extended Absence Due To Collapsed Lung
9:47 am: Cunningham has been diagnosed with a left lung pneumothroax (ie. a collapsed lung) and will be reevaluated in two weeks, the Pistons confirmed today in a brief press release (Twitter link).
8:21 am: Pistons star Cade Cunningham has been diagnosed with a collapsed lung, according to Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link), who reports that the guard is expected to miss an “extended” period of time as a result of the health issue.
Cunningham, a two-time All-Star who has had an MVP-caliber season as the leader of the 49-19 Pistons, exited Tuesday’s win over Washington early due to what were referred to at the time as back spasms. Cunningham was ruled out for Thursday’s rematch vs. the Wizards with his injury designation updated to a left back contusion, but Charania’s report suggests his condition is more serious than that.
A collapsed lung isn’t a common ailment among NBA players, but veteran guard CJ McCollum has dealt with the issue twice in recent years and could provide a point of reference for Cunningham’s potential recovery timetable.
When McCollum was diagnosed with a collapsed lung in 2021, he missed 18 games over the course of about six weeks. When he received a similar diagnosis two years later, he sat out for about three-and-a-half weeks and missed 12 games.
There’s no guarantee Cunningham’s recovery process will mirror McCollum’s — we’ll have to wait for further updates from reporters or the team itself to get a clearer sense of what his timeline will look like.
The Pistons hold a 3.5-game lead on the No. 2 Celtics for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, so it’s not as if they’ll need Cunningham to return during the regular season to help them clinch a favorable playoff seed. Still, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN notes (via Twitter), a six-week absence like McCollum’s in 2021 would keep Cunningham on the shelf until near the end of the first round, which wouldn’t be ideal for a Detroit team looking to make a deep postseason run.
While it’s certainly lower on the list of priorities for Cunningham and the Pistons, it’s also worth mentioning that the 24-year-old would need to play in at least five more games to reach the 65-game minimum for end-of-season awards. If he falls short of that threshold, he wouldn’t be eligible for MVP, All-NBA, or other major individual honors for the 2025/26 season.
With Cunningham sidelined, the Pistons figure to lean more on Marcus Sasser, Daniss Jenkins, and Caris LeVert for ball-handling and play-making.
Detroit has held its own without Cunningham over the course of the season, posting a +2.7 net rating when he’s not on the floor. However, that pales in comparison to +10.9 mark the team has registered during his 2,096 minutes of action.
LeBron Says He’s Not Interested In Owning NBA Team
Lakers star LeBron James has spoken multiple times in the past about his desire to be part of an NBA ownership group after he retires, having specifically named Las Vegas as a market he had his eye on. However, with momentum seemingly growing toward Vegas being awarded an expansion team, James suggested on Wednesday that his enthusiasm about becoming a team owner has dwindled.
Asked by Dan Woike of The Athletic if ownership is still something he’s interested in, James quickly replied, “No, I’m not. Not at all” (Twitter video link via Khobi Price of the California Post).
James’ comments come in the wake of a report indicating that Fenway Sports Group – the sports holding conglomerate that counts LeBron among its partners – won’t be pursuing a team in Vegas due primarily to the exorbitant cost of the anticipated expansion fee.
ESPN’s Shams Charania has reported that the fee for incoming expansion teams will likely be in the $7-10 billion range, while The Athletic cited an estimate of $8 billion.
Of course, James’ brief post-game comments on Wednesday aren’t binding, so it’s not as if he can’t change his mind and become involved with an expansion franchise – or buy into an existing team’s ownership group – down the road. Still, it sounds like it’s no longer part of his future plans for now.
It’s also worth reiterating that active players aren’t permitted to own a stake in an NBA team, and even at age 41, James isn’t looking like a player ready to coast into retirement. In Wednesday’s win over Houston – the Lakers’ seventh consecutive victory – the four-time MVP racked up 30 points on 13-of-14 shooting.
After the game, Rockets star Kevin Durant told reporters that he doesn’t see why his longtime rival couldn’t keep playing for several more seasons beyond this one.
“I think he could play until he’s 45 years old,” Durant said of James (Twitter video link). “I don’t know if he wants to be around that long, but I think he could play for another four to five years, to be honest.”
Jazz Eliminated From Postseason Contention
The Jazz suffered a 147-111 loss at Minnesota on Wednesday, officially eliminating them from playoff contention, according to the NBA league office (Twitter link).
At 20-49, the best Utah could do is tie 10th-place Golden State (33-36), but even in that unlikely scenario, the Warriors would win the tie-breaker. The Jazz become the fifth team to be eliminated, joining Indiana, Sacramento, Washington and Brooklyn.
Wednesday’s game was never really close, even though the Timberwolves were playing without Anthony Edwards (right knee inflammation) and Naz Reid (right shoulder contusion). Ayo Dosunmu, who was acquired at the trade deadline, made his second straight start and led Minnesota with 23 points.
As expected, it’s been a rough season for the Jazz, who haven’t been above .500 since getting off to a 2-1 start. They went through a four-game losing streak in November, another four-game skid in December, a five-game slide in late December and early January, then slipped far out of play-in territory by losing 10 of 11 games starting in mid-January.
Injuries to Lauri Markkanen contributed to the decline as the star forward has only played 42 times and has been available just once since February 11 due to a right hip impingement. He hasn’t been ruled out for the season, but there’s little incentive for him to return with Utah already out of postseason contention.
Starting center Walker Kessler suffered a torn left shoulder labrum early in the season and only appeared in five games.
The Jazz had been projected to finish among the bottom teams in the league, putting themselves in position to land one of the top picks in a loaded draft. Utah currently holds the fifth-worst record and is three games away from Brooklyn for a bottom-three spot and a share of the best odds heading into the lottery.
The Jazz may have been too aggressive in their pursuit of tanking, as they were fined $500K last month for “conduct detrimental to the league” after sitting Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. for the fourth quarters of games February 7 at Orlando and February 9 at Miami.
The blockbuster trade that brought Jackson from Memphis signified that Utah is ready to start winning soon. Jackson underwent knee surgery three games after joining the Jazz, but he’s expected to be ready for the start of next season, along with Kessler, who’s headed for restricted free agency but is considered likely to be re-signed.
The Jazz will head into next season looking for their first winning record and playoff appearance since 2021/22.
Central Notes: Strus, Siakam, Pacers, Ivey
Max Strus has only been back for two games, but it’s clear that Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson has big plans for him heading into the playoffs, Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com writes in a subscriber-only piece. Strus was part of the closing lineup in Tuesday’s win over Milwaukee, and Atkinson intends to keep him in a featured role moving forward.
“I have such a comfort level with him,” Atkinson said. “I could see it going any way with him. Maybe starting lineup. Maybe sixth man. We will see how that plays out. But it’s hard not to finish with the guy because he is such a clutch player. We’ll see where it ends up. He has a way of imposing his will and makes you put him in the lineup.”
Strus, who had been sidelined since undergoing foot surgery in late August, contributed six points, six rebounds and four assists Tuesday in 23 minutes off the bench and hit a late three-pointer that helped Cleveland put the game away. Fedor states that Atkinson plans to steadily increase Strus’ minutes over the 13 remaining games in hopes of having him consistently in the high 20s by the start of the postseason.
Strus’ return will lead to difficult decisions for Atkinson as he sets his nine-man rotation for the playoffs. The Cavs acquired Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder from Sacramento at the trade deadline to upgrade their perimeter defense, and Fedor states that Sam Merrill seems to be another one of Atkinson’s favorite players because of his reliability from three-point range. Fedor speculates that second-year swingman Jaylon Tyson, whom general manager Koby Altman called a franchise cornerstone earlier in the season, may be left out.
“I’m still evaluating who fits and who is going to kind of take the lead in terms of getting in that rotation,” Atkinson said. “We haven’t made a clear decision on who those nine are. Still think we have to evaluate, especially our wings. Have a lot of wings right now.”
There’s more from the Central Division:
- While Pascal Siakam is making progress in his recovery from a right knee sprain, it’s still uncertain when he’ll return to action, according to Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). The Pacers forward missed his sixth consecutive game on Wednesday, but coach Rick Carlisle told reporters he expects Siakam back before the end of the season.
- Tony East of Circle City Spin examines the circumstances surrounding the Pacers‘ long losing streak, which reached 15 games on Wednesday. It’s the most consecutive losses in franchise history, and Indiana is on pace for its worst record since entering the NBA.
- Coach Billy Donovan plans to have Jaden Ivey accompany the team on its upcoming road trip in hopes that he can return to action, relays Bulls reporter Will Gottlieb (Twitter link). Ivey hasn’t played since February 11, but Donovan said the pain in his left knee is gone.
FSG Reportedly Not Interested In Expansion Team, Limiting LeBron James’ Ownership Options
LeBron James‘ partnership with Fenway Sports Group won’t help him get any closer to becoming an NBA owner, according to Joe Vardon and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. Two sources with direct knowledge of the firm tell the authors that FSG currently has no interest in pursuing ownership of an expansion team in Las Vegas.
Cost was cited as the main reason, as the NBA will reportedly seek fees of up to $8 billion per team if the Board of Governors approves exploring expansion opportunities in Las Vegas and Seattle at its meeting next week.
Vardon and Vorkunov note that James first expressed his desire to someday own an NBA franchise in 2016, and he stated four years ago that he would like to be part of the investment in Las Vegas. He has been a business partner with FSG since 2011.
“With Fenway no longer pursuing NBA ownership, it is less likely that LeBron will pursue a team,” a source close to James told the authors.
Forbes cites James’ worth at $1.4 billion, which doesn’t come close to covering the expected expansion fee, and Vardon and Vorkunov state that he always understood that he would have to be part of a team of investors. They also point out that he has connections with wealthy business owners apart from FSG. That includes a 2023 visit to Saudi Arabia as a guest of the Ministry of Sport, which is a partner of the Saudi Public Investment Fund, but the authors explain that the NBA doesn’t permit sovereign wealth funds to own more than 20% of a franchise.
Vardon and Vorkunov also note that James would have to retire as a player before he could pursue an ownership opportunity. He hasn’t stated publicly if he plans to return next season, and with the new franchises targeted to possibly begin playing in 2028, there will be a limited window for James to round up new investment partners and submit a formal bid.
The authors state that James viewed FSG as his path toward ownership. He’s an equity stockholder in the company and became a partner in 2021, giving him partial ownership in the Boston Red Sox, Roush Fenway Racing and the firm’s other properties. His longtime friend Maverick Carter is also an FSG partner, and they were given more equity in 2023.