Pistons Notes: Duren, Stewart, Hayes, Thompson

Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart appear to be the favorites to start at center and power forward for the Pistons heading into training camp, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes in a mailbag column. Langlois sees them as having a clear edge over James Wiseman and Marvin Bagley III. He cites Duren’s impressive showing at Summer League, which he followed up with a strong performance as part of the Select Team that scrimmaged against Team USA’s World Cup squad.

The bigger concern for Wiseman and Bagley, according to Langlois, is whether new head coach Monty Williams is willing to give regular playing time to four big men. They could be battling for one rotation role, not only in camp but throughout the season.

Langlois also raises the possibility that Williams won’t want to start two traditional big men. That could lead to Bojan Bogdanovic getting the starting nod as a stretch four, with Isaiah Livers possibly claiming the other forward spot.

There’s more on the Pistons:

• Killian Hayes needs to establish himself as an NBA player as he enters the final year of his rookie contract, but his path to playing time appears to be blocked, Langlois adds. Cade Cunningham‘s return will consume a lot of the backcourt minutes, and Hayes will have to compete with Jaden Ivey, Alec Burks, newcomer Monte Morris and rookie Marcus Sasser as well. Langlois suggests that Hayes might be included in a multi-player trade at some point to help balance salaries.
• Overtime Elite trainer Luke Cooper believes Ausar Thompson has the drive to become a star, per James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. Cooper said Thompson’s obsession to excel at every part of the game led to some late-night phone calls during their two years of working together. “I’ll get a text or call saying, ‘I mastered it,’ and I’d have no idea what he was talking about,” Cooper said. “It would be some little move that we worked on earlier that day that bothered him so much because he didn’t feel comfortable with it, so he went to his room and worked on it, in his room, until he felt comfortable with it.”
• In a separate story, Edwards examines potential lineup combinations for the upcoming season, looking at which five-man units might work best in different situations.