Central Notes: Thomas, Potter, Smith, Okorie
The Cavaliers feel that they got a steal when they drafted Jaylon Tyson 20th overall back in 2024. They are similarly optimistic about their latest rookie, Meleek Thomas, and are expected to sign the 20-year-old guard to a standard NBA deal with the second-round exception, Michael Scotto reports for HoopsHype.
While Thomas will enter the league at just 185 pounds and 20 years old, he projects to give the bench the type of backcourt scorer and shot creator they have been looking for since Ty Jerome left last offseason. He scored 20 points nine times last season despite only starting 21 of his 37 games for Arkansas, and he shot 41.6% from three on 5.3 attempts per game.
Given how expensive the Cavaliers’ roster projects to be, especially once they negotiate a new deal for free agent James Harden, having bench contributors on cheap, long-term deals is imperative for their continued attempts to contend in the Eastern Conference.
The second-round exception allows a team to sign its second-round picks to standard contracts without needing cap space to do so.
We have more from around the Central Division:
- Micah Potter became a rotation piece for the injury-plagued Pacers this season, and he delivered on the opportunity to play on the first standard contract of his career, averaging 9.7 points and 5.0 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game while hitting 42.3% of his threes. Now, Indiana faces a Monday deadline to make a decision on Potter’s team option, Tony East writes for Forbes. It would appear the Pacers are leaning towards picking it up, as team president Kevin Pritchard recently said the big man would be in the mix for the backup center spot. After they do so, they have another decision to make: they could simply roster him going into next season, or risk waiving Potter and hope another team doesn’t claim him off waivers before re-signing him, a move that would give Indiana slightly more financial wiggle room as they look to fill out their roster.
- The Pacers traded for the 38th pick in the 2026 draft to select Braden Smith. They had to move up for Smith, as they were facing competition from the Bucks and Lakers, according to the former Purdue point guard, per Scott Agness of the Fieldhouse Files (Twitter video link). “They were all kind of fighting for that (draft spot),” Smith said. “So I was trying to figure out which team of the three, and I knew right as they were on the clock that Pacers were it.” To get him, the Pacers traded Kam Jones, second-round swaps, and cash. In 2028, the Pacers will get the least favorable pick between the Bulls’ second-rounder and the more favorable of the Pacers’ and Suns’ second-rounders. In 2030, the Pacers will get the least favorable pick between the Bulls’ and Pacers’ second-rounders, Tony East reports for Circle City Spin.
- Rookie point guard Ebuka Okorie had an unexpectedly fast rise up draft boards this year, but Pistons president Trajan Langdon has had his eye on the shifty guard since long before that, Omari Sankofa II writes for the Detroit Free Press. Langdon’s son, Tayden, attended Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, which Okorie transferred to and played for in his senior year. “It was funny because one day in the gym this spring, I jokingly told [Tayden Langdon], ‘Your dad’s called me a couple times asking about Ebuka,’ and he laughed,” Brewster coach Jason Smith said. “He said, ‘Yeah, he’s called me a couple times, as well.‘”
Pistons’ Langdon Talks Core, Offseason, Draft, More
While he didn’t specifically refer to them by name, Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon made it clear at a press conference on Thursday that the team views Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Amen Thompson as its core to build around, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link).
Langdon repeatedly referenced Detroit’s three best players and said the team’s goal is to find the right mix of play-making and outside shooting to complement some of that trio’s weaknesses.
“Spacing the floor is huge and just giving more optionality on the offensive end to have more creativity,” he said. “When you have multiple ball-handlers and more shooting on the floor that opens it up for our three best players. Those are things we’re looking at. How do we fill that? Can we fill it with two players, do we fill it with one, or do we do it with a big, we’ll look at all those different options.”
Although Langdon reiterated the Pistons “really want” to re-sign Duren, he said contract negotiations with the restricted free agent center “haven’t been” progressing yet, according to Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Thompson will also be eligible for a rookie scale extension this offseason.
“Those will be conversations that will be had. But to be completely honest, you will never know how those conversations go,” Langdon said.
Here are a few more highlights from Langdon’s press conference:
- Langdon acknowledged that several players choosing to return to college due to lucrative NIL deals “thinned out the depth” of the 2026 class and expressed skepticism that a top shooter would be available at 21st overall, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “It’s pretty hard to find a good shooter at 21. They usually don’t get there,” Langdon said. “Maybe we can add play-making. For us, it’s who’s the best player is what we’ll look at. Does that player fit this environment? Does he fit the identity? Maybe it’s not next year, but in the future. We have players who’ll get expensive and we’re going to have to have players who hit and can help this team.” Langdon added that he expected the Pistons to either stand pat or move up in the first round and doesn’t anticipate moving down or out of the draft. “We feel we’re going to get a good player here,” Langdon said. “We think it’s still a good draft and we’ll find a good player at 21.”
- The Pistons are looking at several different options to upgrade their roster, but Langdon stressed that Detroit’s best chance at improvement will be in house. “We have player development plans for our guys. All of our guys will get better next year,” he said. “We’ll come back a better team. Overall, that’s the best way we’ll grow – internal growth.”
- Langdon stressed the team will be “very thoughtful and intentional” about roster moves with new contracts for Duren and Thompson (starting in 2027/28) on the horizon, Patterson notes. “That’s the tricky part, is trying to balance everything, trying to find things that fit,” Langdon said. “If it’s a trade, then it has to be a trade that we feel is worthwhile. We’re not going to go out and give out too many assets for a player. … Not having those assets down the road (can) hamper us in terms of making another move. We’re having internal thoughts and talks every day right now, the closer we get to that time.”
- The Pistons went from 14 to 44 to 60 wins over the past three years. After claiming the top seed in the Eastern Conference, they were eliminated by Cleveland in a seven-game second-round series. “I can’t sit here and say we don’t want to get better. Getting better means you’ve got to win the second round to get better,” Langdon said, per Langlois. “It doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve got to win 64 games. If we do that, it would be fantastic. We know we need to be more equipped in the postseason. We’re looking at adding pieces that accentuate our core three best players and if we do that, that’ll help us in the regular season and the postseason as well.”
- The Pistons are actively exploring ways to improve on the trade market, Sankofa reports in another subscriber-only story. Selecting an impact player at No. 21, making tangible upgrades to the team’s shooting and play-making, and being careful to not overpay Duren and Thompson would be an ideal offseason for Langdon, Sankofa writes.
Pistons Notes: Thompson, Langdon, Contention Window, Offseason Needs
The Pistons are facing a critical offseason as they continue to try to build their roster into a title contender. One decision they will face is whether or not to extend Ausar Thompson, who was recently named First Team All-Defense.
While the playoffs exposed some of the limitations of the current roster, it also illustrated the importance of Thompson to what Detroit wants to do, writes Coty M. Davis of The Detroit News.
“(Thompson) was big-time,” president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon said. “He took a huge step last year, and as the season went on, you saw how much he impacted the game on both ends of the floor. … He competes at a high level. He is team-first. He is going to put in the work. We are excited about our future with him.”
While a majority of Thompson’s impact comes on the defensive end, Langdon believes Thompson can continue to grow his offensive skill set.
“Remember, last year, he did not play a full season,” Langdon said. “He worked through the summer, but it wasn’t like he was going to this year. We won’t have as many restrictions on him this summer as he had last year. He will be able to go out and do some serious work, and I know he is excited about it. You will not have to worry about Thompson putting in the work and competing.”
We have more Pistons notes and news:
- Langdon didn’t make a major move at the trade deadline, opting to send out Jaden Ivey to bring in Kevin Huerter and a pick swap that ended up moving the team from No. 28 to No. 21 in this year’s draft. The lack of added firepower may or may not have hurt the team in the playoffs, but it helped show where the roster really is, Omari Sankofa II writes for the Detroit Free Press. Now the question becomes whether Langdon will make a bigger offseason swing to bring in a true second scoring option next to star Cade Cunningham. “We’re always going to feel like we can get better and that’s the goal, is to be a championship contender,” he said. “We didn’t think it would come this fast, these questions about being a championship contender after Year 2. We have to factor that into the equation as well. Two years ago when I took the job, nobody in here thought I’d be getting championship contender questions two years later. But here we are.”
- While Detroit’s regular season success raised its playoff expectations considerably, losing in the second round was not the end of the team’s window of contention, but rather the start of it, Sankofa writes. The Pistons have all their future first-round picks, including five tradable firsts, as well as 15 future second-rounders, while also maintaining considerable financial flexibility moving forward, especially relative to some of their peers in the Eastern Conference. “We’re still super young,” Langdon said. “All of our guys are going to iterate and get better. They’re going to all be better players next year than they were this year, just like we saw from last year to this season. We’ll take a deep dive, we’ll figure out what we need to add and we’ll step out, we’ll look at it at 35 thousand feet. We won’t look at us as a one seed. We look at us as, ‘How do we get better?'” While the Eastern Conference is expected to get tougher next season as the Pacers and Celtics get back to full strength, the Pistons expect to improve as well, both internally and externally.
- One key area the team will need to address this offseason is adding more ball-handling, Shawn Windsor writes for the Free Press. This is not only to take some of the burden off Cunningham, but also to add more variability to the attack. “The more ball-handling you can have on the floor, the better,” Langdon said. “I think you see these teams that are successful have a lot of people that can … whether it’s initiate [offense], bringing the ball up, or actually execute in the halfcourt in terms of getting paint touches and making decisions. I think the more guys like that you have, the more difficult it is to guard.” Thompson’s improvement as a ball-handler will be crucial, but the Pistons may also need to turn to outside help to maximize their offensive potential.
Pistons’ Langdon Hopeful Of Re-Signing Duren, Extending Thompson
Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon said on Tuesday he’s hopeful of signing both Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson to long-term deals this offseason, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Duren will be a restricted free agent, while Thompson will be eligible for a rookie scale extension.
Duren gained All-Star status for the East’s No. 1 seed but struggled during the postseason and at times was benched in the second half in favor of Paul Reed. Duren averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game during the regular season. He averaged 10.2 PPG and 8.5 RPG in 30.1 MPG during 14 postseason contests.
“First of all, J.D. had a fantastic season,” Langdon said. “All-Star, one of the biggest contributors to us being a No. 1 seed. Darn near 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. An incredible year and an incredible leap from last year to this year because of the work that he put in last summer and his focus. I have no doubt that we’ll put a plan together and he’ll attack it this summer, just like he did last summer, and he’ll come back a better player from his experience, not only during the regular season but also in the postseason just like all of our guys will. We look forward to coming together with his representative and getting a deal done, and for him to continue to be a Piston.”
The Pistons can give Duren a five-year, maximum-salary deal, though it seems likely that their offer will come in lower than that unless a rival suitor forces their hand. If the big man signs a offer sheet from another team, Detroit would be forced to decide whether to match it.
Reaching agreements with Duren and Thompson and still finding ways to upgrade the team’s offense will be tricky for Langdon. Both of those starters have offensive shortcomings.
“JD and AT will be expensive and once that happens, the optionality decreases,” Langdon said, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “But right now, we have some things we can look at and we’ll look at everything and determine what things we can execute on to make us better. What things are the best path to go down now, not only for next year but building forward. This isn’t a one-year thing. The thing I’ve always said is sustainability in terms of being competitive. We have to keep that in mind, as well.”
Langdon chose not to make any major changes at the trade deadline. He’s also hesitant to read too much into the team’s Game 7 flop against Cleveland in the conference semifinals on Sunday.
“We’ll do a deep dive into what we feel made us successful and where we feel we came up a little short,” Langdon said. “A lot of people are looking at one game. If we would’ve won one game, you can’t say we’re going to play into one game of success, either. One game winning or losing can’t define how you’re going to move forward. We’ll take a holistic view of the roster. We’re still super young.”
Langdon wouldn’t commit to making a bold trade to improve the club. It’s no secret that the team could use a reliable secondary scorer and play-maker to ease the pressure off franchise player Cade Cunningham.
“I wish I was clairvoyant. I think so. You’re always going to iterate your team a little bit every year to get better. That’s the goal – to be a championship contender,” Langdon said. “We didn’t think it would come this fast. These questions about being a championship contender after year two. Two years ago when I took the job, nobody in here thought I’d be getting questions about championship contender two years after. Skipping steps, we don’t want to do that. And I don’t think we have.”
Retaining Tobias Harris, who will be 34 next season, is a possibility, but the veteran forward would likely have to take a pay cut from the $26.6MM he earned this season.
“Tobias has been great,” Langdon said. “We appreciate everything he’s brought. We hope we can bring him back. He’s somebody we’d love to put in a Pistons uniform.”
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Duren, Stewart, Weaknesses
The Pistons are on the verge of becoming the seventh No. 1 seed in NBA history to lose a first-round series to a No. 8 seed. They’re down 3-1 after Monday’s 94-88 road loss to the Magic.
Turnovers, three-point shooting and Jalen Duren‘s lack of production have all been factors in their poor showing. Cade Cunningham is averaging 29.5 points but also 6.8 turnovers per game. He committed eight turnovers, compared to six assists, in Game 4.
“Yeah, it’s frustrating,” Cunningham said, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “A lot of it was on myself; I was frustrated with my own play. Having numbers, not making plays in transition. Things like that, the things I do best, just not being able to make plays for my team. They killed us on the offensive glass, our defense didn’t hold up. All that stuff. We’re all frustrated with all that stuff. We’ve gotta fix it and come back better.”
Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Cunningham’s turnovers are due in part to his teammates not executing their roles, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic tweets.
“They’re sending a lot of bodies to him,” he said. “We’ve gotta help him by giving him more space, so that he has room to operate. Set screens for him, be a little more physical, get the guys off of him.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Duren struck a defiant tone after Game 4, declaring “I still think we’re the better team” in a video posted by Sankofa. With Game 5 back on Detroit’s home floor, Duren believes a three-game winning streak is well within reach, according to Patterson. “It ain’t over, bro,” said Duren, a restricted free agent after the season. “Teams have come back from down 3-1 so many times. It wouldn’t be the first time in history. We’ve got to keep it one at a time, go protect the crib and keep moving from there.”
- Isaiah Stewart was a defensive force in Game 4, swatting eight shots in just 17 minutes. Should Stewart get more playing time in place of Duren? Stewart told Patterson he’s ready for more action. “I know what I mean to this team, I know what I was drafted here to do and I know I’m built for playoff basketball,” Stewart said. “So I’m just ready whenever my name is called. And whenever my name is called, I’m ready to lay it on the line like I display every single night. At the end of the day, you’ve got to trust the game plan Coach has, and you’ve got to be there for your teammates. It sucks because I want to be out there more because I know what I bring, and I know the impact I have on the game. I know (the Magic) don’t want me out there for a reason. So, yeah, it’s tough. But at the end of the day, (I’m going to) be the best teammate that I can be.”
- The Pistons’ weaknesses have been exposed due to the decision made by top executive Trajan Langdon to not make a big splash at the trade deadline, John Niyo of the Detroit News opines. The lack of a true No. 2 scoring option, or even a proven secondary play-maker, has put too much on Cunningham’s shoulders, Niyo writes, while their floor-spacing shooter in the starting lineup, Duncan Robinson, has been hunted on the defensive end. Those issues have put them on the brink of early elimination.
Celtics’ Brad Stevens Named Executive Of The Year
For the second time in three years, Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year, the league announced today (Twitter link).
Stevens, who also earned the honor in 2024, is the 12th individual to win multiple Executive of the Year awards, according to the NBA.
The 2025/26 season was widely expected to be a “gap year” for the Celtics, who were determined to shed salary after operating above the second tax apron and lost star forward Jayson Tatum to an Achilles tear during the 2025 playoffs. Stevens made a series of cost-cutting moves last offseason, trading away Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis and allowing Luke Kornet and Al Horford to walk in free agency.
However, with Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard leading the way and modestly paid contributors such as Neemias Queta, Sam Hauser, and Jordan Walsh playing key rotation roles, the Celtics remained competitive both before and after Tatum’s eventual return in March. The team won 56 regular season games despite the fact that Stevens completed another series of financially motivated transactions at the trade deadline to get Boston’s team salary below the luxury tax line.
Unlike most of the NBA’s major end-of-season awards, Executive of the Year is voted on by the league’s general managers rather than by media members.
Stevens received 11 of 28 possible first-place votes from his fellow executives and finished with 69 total points. That was enough to beat out runner-up Onsi Saleh — the Hawks general manager actually showed up on the same number of ballots as Stevens (17), but earned primarily second-place (10) and third-place (6) votes and finished with 41 points.
Trajan Langdon of the Pistons (six first-place votes, 40 points), Jeff Peterson of the Hornets (five first-place votes, 37 points), and Sam Presti of the Thunder (three first-place votes, 25 points) rounded out the top five finishers, while Brian Wright of the Spurs earned the remaining two first-place votes.
Six other executives showed up on at least one ballot. The full voting results can be viewed right here (via Twitter).
Central Notes: Turner, Cade, Langdon, Zubac, Walker
Among the free agents who changed teams in 2025, no player received a bigger payday than Myles Turner, who signed a four-year, $109MM contract with the Bucks. But it was a disappointing first year in Milwaukee for Turner, as the big man saw his production drop off and went from playing in the NBA Finals to finishing in the lottery. Speaking to Eric Nehm of The Athletic and Jim Owczarski of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription required), Turner reflected on a challenging season.
“It was definitely a rude awakening,” Turner said. “It was difficult throughout the year, obviously, with all the injuries and whatnot. But one thing I was really encouraged by was, honestly, the spirit of all of the guys, man. I feel like, especially on the players’ side, guys had the right approach, and that’s made it more easy to go about the days for myself. It’s obviously been a rough adjustment, but I think that kind of just comes with anything new.”
As Nehm points out, Turner isn’t the kind of player who generates his own shots on offense, so the fact that two of Milwaukee’s primary play-makers – Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Porter Jr. – were injured for large chunks of the season made it difficult for the big man to find his rhythm in the offense. For his part, Turner wonders if he should have done more to advocate for a role that he could’ve had more success in.
“It wasn’t easy,” Turner said. “I don’t want to throw Doc (Rivers) under the bus and say he said, ‘Myles, you’re not allowed to do this,’ or, ‘Myles, you’re not allowed to do that.’ I think a lot of it was me, maybe being a little passive and kind of acquiescing to others when I could’ve stepped up in a different role quicker for myself. But I do think there is a push and pull. It goes both ways. You could put me in a better position to be successful, and then I could be a little more assertive in ways that I have been in the past. There was definitely a lot of frustration on both ends. I think the frustration came more from not figuring it out fast enough, kind of just sinking.”
If the Bucks decide to move Antetokounmpo this offseason, it may have a ripple effect on Turner, who could join Giannis on the trade block in the event of a full-scale rebuild. For now though, he’s planning on finishing out his contract in Milwaukee.
“I did sign a four-year deal, and with that being said, I plan to honor it, that commitment,” Turner said. “All I can do is kind of sit here and wait for direction and go out there and voice my opinion during exit meetings and whatnot. I think we’re in wait-and-see-what-happens mode right now as opposed to what can happen.”
Here’s more from across the Central:
- Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff was happy to learn on Thursday that Cade Cunningham has been ruled award-eligible despite not meeting the 65-game criteria, as Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press relays. “He deserves it, you know what I mean?” Bickerstaff said. “That’s what you don’t want to see happen is things taken away from guys that are completely out of their control. I think the league did the right thing.”
- In an in-depth feature for Andscape, Marc J. Spears examines the path Trajan Langdon took to the Pistons‘ president of basketball operations position and the role he has played in the team’s renaissance since being hired in 2024. Within the story, Langdon explained why he didn’t want to do anything too drastic at the trade deadline despite the possibility that Detroit could be just one piece away from a title. “I want to see our guys continue to grow, give them room to grow,” Langdon said. “I didn’t want to do anything that could impact that.”
- After being acquired at the trade deadline, center Ivica Zubac was only able to play in five games for the Pacers before a rib fracture ended his season. Still, he says he “got a feel for how this team wants to play” during that time, as Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star details (subscription required). “About the pace, about defensive coverages, about defensive rotations,” he said. “Offensively, where they want me to be, what they want me to do. It definitely helped. I wish it was more games, for sure, to get a better feel for it. (But) I kind of understood what they want from me.”
- Playing for a 17-65 team was a new experience for Pacers forward Jarace Walker, who had never been part of a losing team since he began playing basketball. And while he didn’t enjoy all that losing, the third-year forward did take a major step forward individually over the course of the season, Dopirak writes for The Star (subscription required). “I’ll never take this year for granted because I’ve grown so much throughout this season,” said Walker, who averaged a career-high 25.7 minutes per game and made 41 starts before becoming extension-eligible this July. “That’s because I was able to play through mistakes, play with different lineups, play with different people that I’ve never played with before. It’s been beautiful. It’s been a blessing in disguise for sure.”
Pistons Notes: Cunningham, Langdon, Huerter, Ivey
Cade Cunningham‘s outstanding season is moving him into the MVP conversation, writes Vincent Goodwill of ESPN. The Pistons guard turned in his latest dominant performance with 42 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds in Thursday’s win at New York, as Detroit solidified its hold on the top spot in the East and improved its league-best record to 41-13.
“It comes from doing the things I said, what I needed to do to be in that conversation,” Cunningham said. “Now that we’re getting closer, there’s more [talk] like ‘What is your case? You should speak on it.’ I don’t really care to speak on it. I want the people that vote on it to be smart enough to look at the game for themselves.”
However, he added, “I think I am [MVP]. And if you don’t agree with me, that’s your opinion.“
Cunningham ranks 12th in the league’s scoring race at 25.7 PPG and second in assists with 9.7 per game. He’s been the driving force on a team that has shattered all expectations coming into this season, and his competitive spirit has affected his teammates.
“He’s a winner, man. He really is. Attitude, leadership, every day, the guy is special,” Tobias Harris said. “I think more than anything, he wants championships, and that’s a difference. There’s guys who want to win MVP and guys who want to win championships.”
There’s more on the Pistons:
- In an interview with Chris Mannix of SI, owner Tom Gores gives credit to president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon for turning around a franchise that won just 14 games two years ago. “I probably saw 20 different people, a lot of known names. And Trajan was not necessarily one of the known names,” Gores said of the hiring process. “He had a good reputation. But I saw a real CEO and an executive in him. … His execution skills, like a CEO, are excellent, his strategy and analytic skills, excellent. He’s very execution oriented. And to me, I’ve never gotten anywhere in my life just with vision. We have to execute and he’s very execution oriented, and of course has a vision.”
- Kevin Huerter is only averaging 12 minutes per night in four appearances since being acquired from Chicago at the deadline. Speaking to reporters before Saturday’s game, coach J.B. Bickerstaff said he expects Huerter to eventually move into a larger role, per Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link). “You see him and he’s got the reputation as a shooter, but I watch him as a play-maker, a ball-handler … his understanding of the game as a whole,” Bickerstaff said.
- Bickerstaff also commented on the decision to part with Jaden Ivey, who was getting limited playing time while working his way back after fracturing his left leg last season, Sankofa adds (Twitter link). “We expected a full recovery but the timing we didn’t know, which is something you can’t ever know,” Bickerstaff said. “And then the part of it for him, believing it and trusting it. That happens with injury too, especially when you’re that explosive and your athleticism is so unique.”
Pistons Notes: Bickerstaff, Suspensions, Reed, Cunningham, Duren
The Pistons have stunned the NBA world by going from worst to first in the Eastern Conference in two seasons. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is somewhat surprised by the team’s quick rise but felt good about joining the organization after owner Tom Gores hired Trajan Langdon as the president of basketball operations in 2024. Shortly after being fired by Detroit’s Central Division rivals in Cleveland, Bickerstaff was hired by Langdon.
“When you were with the group every day, you knew there was a ton of potential there. I couldn’t tell you that I would say that a year and a half later we’d be coaching the All-Star Game and be in first place, but I knew we were going to grow, I knew we were going to continue to get better and we had the pieces,” Bickerstaff told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “The biggest thing for me also I trust Trajan totally because Trajan is the type of person that understands team and how to construct a roster. I think the small, subtle moves that he made last [season] and then even this [season], that helped elevate this team and I trusted his vision and plan.”
Bickerstaff says he doesn’t talk to the team about winning a championship this season because he’s more focused on winning in the short term.
“We’re all about the process. We talk about today every single day,” he said. “That helps control the emotional ups and downs. If you’re looking at big picture views of 10 games and all that, there’s so many different things that can vary. But if you can stay in the moment and focused on that, it helps your team continue to get better because you’re just attacking the problem that’s in front of you.”
We have more on the Pistons:
- All-Star center Jalen Duren and key reserve Isaiah Stewart will continue to serve their suspensions when the team returns to action on Thursday. Duren has one more game left on his suspension for his part in a scuffle with the Hornets last week, while Stewart still has six games to go. Bickerstaff told Spears the Pistons’ depth will carry them through this stretch. “Whenever they have been called upon, they have lived up to the moment and the team has supported them and helped them be successful,” Bickerstaff said of his reserves. “That’s how we move forward. We hold the fort down until our guys get back. We will miss those guys while they are out but the strength of our team has been our depth and we will contribute to use that as a weapon.”
- Paul Reed stepped forward in the first game after the suspensions were issued, a 113-95 road victory over the Raptors. Reed finished with 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting, five rebounds, four blocks and three assists starting in place of Duren. “My minutes might not be consistent, but my teammates and coaches expect me to come in and be ready, and that is what I am going to do,” Reed said, per Coty Davis of the Detroit News. “I take pride in that. To come in and know that when things go left, I can step up and provide.” Reed re-signed with Detroit on a two-year, $11MM contract last summer but his $5.6MM salary for next season is not guaranteed.
- Cade Cunningham and Duren were prominent members of the USA Stars team that prevailed in the three-team All-Star contest on Sunday, Davis notes. In those three 12-minute games, Cunningham recorded 15 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, three steals and three blocks, while Duren finished with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
- Duren, a restricted free agent after the season, said that the bad times he and the team endured during his first two seasons have provided extra motivation for everyone in the organization. “It’s kinda like being broke and then getting money,” Duren told Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “You never want to be broke again. That’s really what it is, bro, is understanding what that bottom felt like and never wanting to go back because we all have basketball pride and we all want to be the best in what we do. Knowing what that bottom feels like again, it’s never wanting to be back.”
Pistons Notes: Jenkins, Trade Deadline, Buyout Market, Huerter
Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon stated on Friday that the team plans to sign two-way guard Daniss Jenkins to a standard contract prior to their road game against the Hornets on Monday. Jenkins reached his NBA two-way eligibility limit on Friday and displayed why the Pistons want him on the 15-man roster. He scored a team-high 18 points as the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons blew out the second-place Knicks.
Jenkins was “saved” for that matchup with New York after sitting out Thursday’s loss to the Wizards.
“I was really frustrated yesterday because I didn’t get to play,” Jenkins told Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “I hate missing games. I just wanted to come out and impact the game. We forgot about it, we flushed that game yesterday, but it’s still on my mind. It was definitely not a game that we should have lost. I just wanted to come out and impact the game like I always do. Just change the energy. My teammates played really well tonight. We all played a really good game and I just had to come in and do my job.”
Jenkins’ emergence made former lottery pick Jaden Ivey, who was dealt to Chicago, expendable. Jenkins is motivated by the fact he entered the league as an undrafted player.
“If I’m being honest, and everybody knows I’m a very humble guy, but in college, most of these dudes that got drafted, what was the difference between me and them?” he said. “What? You tell me, what was the difference? For me, going undrafted is insanity to me, literally insanity, and that burns inside of me every single day.”
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- Other than acquiring reserve guard Kevin Huerter in the Ivey deal, the Pistons took a “stay the course” approach to the trade deadline. “There were some things, whether it was the other team pulling out or us just saying, now’s not the right time for that,” Langdon said, per Vince Goodwill of ESPN. “There were some things that I wouldn’t say, got close, that we thought about but didn’t execute.” Langdon is eager to see how his team responds in the postseason as likely the top East seed. “What are we going to do in the postseason? What’s our rotation, who are the guys that step up in crunch time,” Langdon said. “The hope is we give ourselves a chance to play meaningful basketball in the postseason and that’ll allow us to assess what this team is and who we are going forward.”
- Langdon wouldn’t rule out picking up a player from the buyout market if it’s a good fit, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic tweets. “We’ll always look at opportunities to get better,” he said. “We’ll definitely explore it, see who becomes available and if some of those players fit for us. We’ll keep looking to see if can get better if possible.”
- Huerter scored eight points in eight minutes against the Knicks. There’s no certainty he’ll be in the rotation but his outside shooting could prove valuable, Patterson writes. “He’s a complete basketball player,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “He’s versatile in the things that he can do. Obviously, (he has) the ability to make shots. But he has the ability to make plays, he can play the pick-and-roll. He’s an elite cutter, understanding spacing. Just his ability to process the game as a whole. As a person he’s going to fit right in. He’s a great dude who understands the situation he’s coming into and what these guys have already accomplished. He’s not here to rock the boat by any means. He’s here to help and contribute, and we feel like his skill set can do that.”
- Huerter grew up as a fan of the Pistons, according to Sankofa. “Back when you’re growing up as a kid, whatever team is on TV are the ones you gravitate towards,” he said. “One of the first basketballs that I had was a Detroit Pistons basketball. Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, that whole team was one of my favorite teams. … I always liked the Pistons.”