- The Pistons held a workout today as well, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. They hosted Brian Bowen, Jalen Adams (UConn), Jarrell Brantley (Charleston), Robert Franks (Washington State), Khalil Iverson (Wisconsin), and Terance Mann (Florida State).
Thanks to an All-Star season from Blake Griffin, the Pistons reached the playoffs for just the second time since the 2008/09 season. Their postseason stay didn’t last long, as they were swept in the opening round by the top-seeded Bucks.
Making improvements to the team this offseason will be challenging for the front office. They are saddled with some bad contracts that will prevent them for pursuing top-level free agents. Talent is thin beyond the frontcourt duo of Griffin and Andre Drummond and they need to find some shooters. The team ranked only above the woeful Knicks in field-goal shooting percentage this season.
Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:
1. Will they keep the Blake Griffin/Andre Drummond/Reggie Jackson core intact?
It’s unlikely the Pistons will go into full tank mode after making the playoffs for the second time in a decade. Once the gold standard among Eastern Conference franchises by reaching the conference finals from 2003-08, the Pistons have been irrelevant for too long to start all over again.
Griffin has given the franchise the star power it has sorely lacked for many years. He has reshaped his game over the years, turning himself into a stretch four, ballhandler and playmaker. Moreover, concerns over how Griffin would handle the switch from Los Angeles to snowy Detroit have evaporated. He’s become the clear team leader and spokesman while endearing himself to teammates, coaches and staff members with his work ethic and professionalism.
Drummond is a tricky case. He’s the league’s premier rebounder and one of its most mobile big men. His offensive game has shown improvement, particularly at the free throw line where he’s gone from historically awful to somewhat respectable. He’s also shown some improvement defensively, leading the team in blocks and steals, though his presence doesn’t discourage opponents from attacking the paint.
The bigger question mark is Drummond’s future plans. He holds a player option on his contract after next season at $28.75MM. If he intends to opt out, the Pistons could explore trades to pile up assets rather than risk losing him for nothing more than salary-cap space next summer.
Jackson ranked 32nd among point guards on ESPN’s Player Efficiency Rating scale. Injuries have set his career back, though his play perked up after the All-Star break. There’s little doubt the Pistons would jump at the chance to upgrade at the point, since coach Dwane Casey‘s scheme isn’t reliant on pick-and-rolls and Jackson is more comfortable running those sets.
Jackson becomes a free agent next summer, so the cap-strapped Pistons may simply roll with him next season and then replace him.
The general feeling around the organization is that the Pistons will target a wing with their pick, which is just outside the lottery, but the team may ultimately utilize the “best player available” strategy at that spot.- The Pistons worked out Nickeil Alexander-Walker (Virginia Tech), Luguentz Dort (Arizona State), Amir Hinton (Shaw), Talen Horton-Tucker (Iowa State), Nassir Little (UNC), and Shamorie Ponds (St. John’s) on Friday, then auditioned Oshae Brissett (Syracuse), Barry Brown Jr. (Kansas State), Digue Diawara (France), Nikola Miskovic (Serbia), Zach Jackson (Omaha), and Josh Perkins (Gonzaga) on Monday, per Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter links).
USA Basketball has officially announced the group of 20 players that will participate in training camp this summer in advance of the 2019 FIBA World Cup. The camp will take place from August 5-9, and will be used to select the 12-man roster for this year’s World Cup in China.
The 20-man training camp roster is as follows:
- Harrison Barnes (Kings)
- Bradley Beal (Wizards)
- Anthony Davis (Pelicans)
- Andre Drummond (Pistons)
- Eric Gordon (Rockets)
- James Harden (Rockets)
- Tobias Harris (Sixers / FA)
- Kyle Kuzma (Lakers)
- Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)
- Brook Lopez (Bucks / FA)
- Kevin Love (Cavaliers)
- Kyle Lowry (Raptors)
- CJ McCollum (Trail Blazers)
- Khris Middleton (Bucks)
- Paul Millsap (Nuggets)
- Donovan Mitchell (Jazz)
- Jayson Tatum (Celtics)
- Myles Turner (Pacers)
- P.J. Tucker (Rockets)
- Kemba Walker (Hornets / FA)
“I am excited about getting to training camp in August and working with all of the players that have been selected to attend the USA National Team training camp in Las Vegas,” Team USA head coach Gregg Popovich said in a statement. “We’ve got an excellent cross-section of veteran USA Basketball and NBA players, as well as some exciting younger players who possess amazing versatility.
“I’m appreciative of commitment that our National Team players continue to make, and the eagerness of the new players to become involved,” Popovich continued. “Selecting a 12-man team will be extremely difficult.”
It will be an eventful summer for many of the players on the 20-man Team USA training camp roster. Besides Harris, Lopez, and Walker, who are all headed for unrestricted free agency and could be on new teams by August, players like Barnes, Middleton, and Millsap could reach the open market if their player or team options are declined. Others – including Davis, Gordon, Kuzma, Tatum, and Tucker – have been mentioned in trade rumors.
Kuzma and Mitchell are the only players on the roster who haven’t played internationally for Team USA in the past. Five player on the roster (Barnes, Davis, Harden, Love, and Lowry) have won gold medals for USA Basketball at the 2012 or 2016 Olympics, while two others (Drummond and Gordon) have taken home gold at previous World Cups.
Previous reports indicated that Zion Williamson, John Collins, and Marvin Bagley are expected to be among the players named to a 10-man select team that will scrimmage with Team USA’s 20-man roster at the training camp in August.
- The Pistons could be focused on a wing player with their first-round pick, as noted by Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Detroit was awarded the No. 15 overall selection in the draft, coming off a season where the team finished 41-41 with the eighth seed.
Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, R.J. Barrett, Darius Garland, De’Andre Hunter, Jarrett Culver, Coby White, Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes were the first nine prospects invited to sit in the Green Room at the NBA draft, ESPN’s Jonathan Givony tweets. There were no surprises on the list, as the first eight comprise Givony’s top 8 prospects and Hayes is ranked No. 11. The invites reinforce that all nine will be selected in the lottery and probably the top 10. Another 11 invites are expected to be made, Givony adds.
We have more draft news:
- Trey Mourning has a workout lined up with the Heat, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel tweets. Mourning, son of longtime Heat star Alonzo Mourning, averaged 6.3 PPG for Georgetown last season. The 6’9” forward previously visited the Wizards and Kings, Winderman adds.
- Guard Justin Simon (St. John’s) will work out for the Thunder on Thursday, Adam Zagoria of the New York Times tweets.
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Givony’s No. 22 overall prospect, worked out for the Pistons on Friday, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets. The combo guard, who averaged 16.2 PPG and 4.0 APG for Virginia Tech last season, has already visited the Hornets and Celtics, Beard adds.
- Point guard Tremont Waters, Givony’s No. 49 overall prospect, will visit the Pacers and Spurs, Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington tweets. Waters will probably not do any on-court work as he’s still rehabbing a right ankle sprain suffered at the NBA combine, Candace Buckner of the Washington Post tweets.
Four NBA teams have been selected to participate in The NBA Mexico City Games 2019, the league announced today. The Mavericks, Pistons, Suns and Spurs will all play regular-season games at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico, located in Mexico City.
Dallas and Detroit will square off on December 12, with Phoenix and San Antonio meeting two days later. These will be the 29th and 30th games that Mexico will host since its partnership with the league began in 1992.
“NBA games in Mexico City are a core part of our efforts to reach and engage basketball fans throughout Mexico and Latin America,” commissioner Adam Silver said. “With a record four NBA teams visiting Mexico City next season, we expect an unprecedented level of interest and excitement around these games and our surrounding community events.”
ESPN Deportes, Televisa and NBA League Pass in Mexico will all show the games, which will be available in more than 200 countries and territories. Ticket information will be announced later. The games will be accompanied by NBA Cares community outreach projects.
“It’s an honor for the Spurs organization to be able to represent South Texas and the NBA by, once again, playing in Mexico City,” said team president R.C. Buford. “The relationship between our community and Mexico is important and impactful on many levels. We look forward to a wonderful experience and are excited to share Spurs basketball with all of our fans in Mexico.”
- Sedrick Barefield (Utah), Kevarrius Hayes (Florida), Nick Mayo (Eastern Kentucky), Matt McQuaid (Michigan State), Milik Yarbrough (Illinois State), Kris Clyburn (UNLV), Tyler Cook (Iowa), Corey Davis Jr. (Houston), Anthony Lawrence Jr. (Miami), Simisola Shittu (Vanderbilt), and Dean Wade (Kansas State) are among the players who have worked out for the Pistons this week, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com and Rod Beard of The Detroit News (Twitter links). As previously reported, Darius Bazley also auditioned for Detroit this week.
Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver made his case to be drafted third overall during a workout today with the Knicks, relays Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Calling himself “an elite two-way player,” Culver told reporters his defensive abilities separate him from other top prospects.
“Nowadays, it’s hard to find people who take pride in defense. But I’m one of them,” he said. “I take pride in defense. Being at Texas Tech taught me a lot, so I feel like on the defensive side I’m elite.”
Most mock drafts have Duke’s R.J. Barrett headed to New York, following Duke’s Zion Williamson and Murray State’s Ja Morant off the board. Culver said he’s confident in what he has to offer and doesn’t compare himself to Barrett.
“I feel like we’re great players, both of us,” Culver said. “He has a lot of talent, I have a lot of talent. And at the end of the day it’s not our choice where we go, it’s for everybody else to choose. So we just put in the work. I know he’s working hard, I’m working hard. So it is what it is.”
Culver already had a workout with the Lakers, who hold the No. 4 selection, and he has sessions scheduled with the next three teams in the draft, the Cavaliers, Suns and Bulls.
There’s more draft news tonight:
- Central Florida’s Tacko Fall wasn’t able to participate in shooting drills with the Pacers today after rolling his ankle earlier in the workout, writes Wheat Hotchkiss of NBA.com. The injury doesn’t sound serious and the 7’7″ center made an impression by towering over his workout partners. “Whenever people see me, it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s tall, but can he play?,'” Fall said. “It’s something that I had to work on. I have worked really hard. I have great people around me that have helped me become the player I am today. I just have to keep working.” Others at the session included Indiana’s Juwan Morgan, Florida State’s Mfiondu Kabengele and Clemson’s Elijah Thomas.
- Purdue’s Carsen Edwards, who worked out for the Sixers today, has also been through sessions with the Pacers, Jazz and Nets, tweets Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has upcoming workouts set with the Bucks, Celtics and Thunder.
- Gonzaga’s Brandon Clarke has worked out for several teams already and has sessions scheduled with the Celtics, Nets, Bulls, Pistons and Timberwolves, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic (Twitter link).
- Former Heat guard Matt Williams was invited to a free agent mini-camp with the Pistons, tweets Nicola Lupo of Sportando. Williams appeared in three games as a two-way player for Miami during the 2017/18 season before playing this year in Finland and Greece. Forward Marc Loving, formerly of Ohio State, also received an invitation (Twitter link). He played in the G League this season.