November 4th, 2018 at 8:39pm CST by Eric Spyropoulos
Here are Sunday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
The Pistons have recalled forward Henry Ellenson and rookie guard Khyri Thomas from the Grand Rapids Drive, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News (via Twitter).
Here are Friday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
The Pistons assigned third-year forward Henry Ellenson and rookie guard Khyri Thomas to the Grand Rapids Drive, the team announced in a press release. Ellenson, a first-rounder in 2016, has been buried at the end of Detroit’s bench or inactive this season. The front office decided against picking up his option for next season. Thomas, a second-round pick out of Creighton acquired from the Sixers in a draft-night deal, has not made his NBA debut.
The Nets recalled rookie forwards Rodions Kurucs and Dzanan Musa from the Long Island Nets, Brian Lewis of the New York Post tweets. Kurucs, a second-round pick, has averaged 8.7 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 14.3 MPG through three NBA games. Musa, a late first-round selection, has made three short appearances this season. Kurucs was assigned to the Long Island team earlier in the day.
Rookie Celtics center Robert Williams has been assigned to the Maine Red Claws, the NBA team’s PR department tweets. The first-round pick has made four cameo appearances with the Celtics and knocked down his only field-goal attempt.
The Sixers assigned power forward Jonah Bolden to the Delaware Blue Coats, according to a team press release. Bolden, a second-round pick in 2017 who signed a four-year, partially-guaranteed contract in July, has seen action in four games this season but none of those stints were longer than seven minutes.
Declining Henry Ellenson‘s fourth-year option for 2019/20 doesn’t necessarily mean that the Pistons plan on moving on from him at season’s end, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
The Pistons have picked up their 2019/20 team option on former lottery pick Luke Kennard, the team announced today in a press release. As a result, Detroit will carry a guaranteed cap hit of $3,827,160 on its books for Kennard next season.
Kennard, the 12th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, may never reach the level of the player selected one spot after him (Donovan Mitchell), but he’s developing into a reliable contributor for the Pistons. In 76 career games so far, Kennard has averaged 7.6 PPG with an impressive .416 3PT% in a part-time role.
Kennard’s option was one of two that the Pistons had to make a decision on by Wednesday, and it seems his will be the only one exercised. A report from earlier today indicated that Detroit has opted not to pick up Henry Ellenson‘s fourth-year option for 2019/20.
The Pistons will not exercise Henry Ellenson‘s rookie scale option for the 2019/20 season in advance of Wednesday’s deadline, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). By turning down that option, Detroit will put Ellenson on a path to unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019.
Ellenson, 21, has appeared in just 58 games during his two-plus seasons in Detroit since being selected 18th overall in the 2016 draft. He has averaged 3.8 PPG and 2.2 RPG in those 58 games, with an underwhelming .363 FG% in 8.3 minutes per contest.
With Anthony Tolliver no longer a Piston, Ellenson was considered a candidate to earn some playing time in the frontcourt behind Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond this season, but that hasn’t happened so far. Zaza Pachulia has handled most of the backup minutes at center, while smaller forwards like Stanley Johnson and Glenn Robinson III have seen some time at the four. Ellenson has appeared in just one game.
Ellenson’s option for 2019/20 would have been worth $2,856,804. Now, the Pistons will be prohibited from offering a starting salary worth more than that amount if they change course and want to bring him back next season.
The Pistons will also have a decision to make on Luke Kennard before Wednesday — his third-year option for 2019/20 looks like a safe bet to be exercised.
October 28th, 2018 at 5:54pm CST by Eric Spyropoulos
With the Pistons getting off to a strong 4-1 start, all eyes have been on Blake Griffin‘s impressive performance as the team’s leader. As A. Sherrod Blakely writes for NBC Sports Boston, Griffin has reinvented his game to evolve with the modern NBA. Al Horford believes that Griffin has been playing like a MVP candidate so far with his ability to handle the ball, score in the post and create opportunities for others.
For the Pistons, they are hoping that a revitalized Griffin, better health for Reggie Jackson and a new coach in Dwane Casey will be enough to get the team back to the playoffs. So far, the results are promising as the Pistons look to build on their strong start and the MVP performances from Griffin.
The Pistons have gone about building their roster in unique fashion with two big men leading the way. Rod Beard writes for The Detroit News that Celtics coach Brad Stevens recognizes and appreciates what Dwane Casey has done to successfully compliment and ride Griffin and Andre Drummond to early season success.
“It’ll be matchup driven,” Casey said of the Pistons’ plans to fill Kennard’s minutes. “Glenn does a good job of chasing guys. Some guys have trouble against length. That will be Glenn. But Bruce, he’s capable of really guarding a lot of different people. Khyri Thomas, too. Luke going down is an opportunity for Khyri, Jose to be ready. … That’s why we have 15 on the roster. We’ll have to make a decision whether we want to bring up (two-way player) Zach Lofton. This is why you stay ready for your opportunity.”
OCTOBER 26: After undergoing an MRI, Kennard has officially been diagnosed with an AC joint sprain, the Pistons announced today in a press release. He’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks, according to the team.
Wojnarowski, meanwhile, classifies the injury as a separated shoulder and tweets that Kennard is expected to miss three to four weeks.
OCTOBER 25: Pistons guard Luke Kennard has suffered a sprained right shoulder and a likely separation, according ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Kennard will undergo an MRI Friday to determine the severity of the injury.
Kennard appeared to injure his shoulder while running into a hard screen in the first half of the Pistons game on Thursday, leaving the contest early in clear pain. He tallied eight points, one assist and one steal before exiting the game.
Kennard’s timetable for a return largely depends on the details of the injury and whether he needs surgery. Some NBA players have missed several months with a shoulder separation, while others have simply been listed as day-to-day in past seasons for a mild separation.
As noted by Wojnarowski, it’s possible Kennard didn’t suffer a separation and only sprained his shoulder, although results won’t be released until the MRI exam is complete.
Kennard, 22, was drafted by the Pistons with the No. 12 pick in 2017. He averaged 7.6 points and 2.4 rebounds per game last season, shooting an impressive 42% from 3-point range.
When an NBA team hires a new head coach, it has a ripple effect on that club’s G League affiliate. In an interesting piece for MLive.com, Peter J. Wallner takes a closer look at how the Grand Rapids Drive, led by coach Ryan Krueger, will work to implement new Pistons coach Dwane Casey‘s philosophy at the NBAGL level this season after growing accustomed to Stan Van Gundy‘s system and style.
Eight days into the NBA season, 25 teams have lost at least one game, leaving just five clubs unscathed. In the Eastern Conference, the Raptors (4-0), Bucks (3-0), and Pistons (3-0) remain undefeated, while, the Nuggets (4-0) and Pelicans (3-0) have yet to lose in the West.
All five of those teams were expected to be, at the very least, playoff contenders in 2018/19, but they’ve still exceeded expectations to some extent in the early part of the season.
The Raptors, Bucks, and Pistons all entered the season with new head coaches in place, but there has been no learning curve for those coaches so far. Kawhi Leonard and Blake Griffin have played like their old selves after battling injuries last season, helping Toronto and Detroit get off to fast starts, while Mike Budenholzer‘s offense in Milwaukee has the Bucks looking like a new team.
In the West, we knew that the Nuggets would be terrific on offense, but they’ve been better than advertised on the defensive end of the court, and that has played a big part in their hot start. As for the Pelicans, they still look like the team that made quick work of Portland in the first round of the playoffs last season, having not skipped a beat after losing Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins in free agency.
Here are the upcoming schedules for the NBA’s five remaining undefeated teams:
Toronto Raptors: vs. Min (10/24), vs. Dal (10/26), at Mil (10/29), vs. Phi (10/30), at Phx (11/2)
Milwaukee Bucks: vs. Phi (10/24), at Min (10/26), vs. Orl (10/27), vs. Tor (10/29), at Bos (11/1)
Detroit Pistons: vs. Cle (10/25), vs. Bos (10/27), at Bos (10/30), at Bkn (10/31), at Phi (11/3)
Denver Nuggets: at LAL (10/25), vs. NOP (10/29), at Chi (10/31), at Cle (11/1), vs. Uta (11/3)
New Orleans Pelicans: vs. Bkn (10/26), vs. Uta (10/27), at Den (10/29), at GSW (10/31), at Por (11/1)
All five clubs have tough matchups on tap, including some with each other — next Monday night should be especially interesting, as the Bucks host the Raptors while the Pelicans visit the Nuggets.
Based on what you’ve seen so far, as well as each team’s upcoming schedules, we want to know which team you believe will be the NBA’s last undefeated squad. Will it be the Raptors, Bucks, Pistons, Nuggets, or Pelicans that stays out of the loss column for the longest?
After placing your vote, head to the comment section below to weigh in on how long you expect each of these teams to keep winning and whether their hot starts have changed your views on them at all.