- Could the Pistons insert lottery pick Ausar Thompson into the starting lineup ahead of several veteran options? It’s a possibility, according to James Edwards III of The Athletic. The wing’s defensive prowess and willingness to do the little things has impressed his teammates. “He plays winning basketball,” Cade Cunningham said. “He plays super hard. He connects the floor very well. His play-making ability is something I feel like should be talked about more. He’s a willing passer. He’s able to read the floor really well. Obviously, the way he gets after it on the defensive end is what’s going to make him a huge impact on Day 1.”
- Pistons general manager Troy Weaver said character played in a role in the front office’s decision to extend Isaiah Stewart this summer, Omari Sankofa of the Detroit Free Press tweets. “You always want to have a player or players on the team who are symbols for what you want to be about, and he’s that on and off the floor. Who he is as a person and what he brings to practice, what he brings as a teammate,” Weaver said. Stewart signed a four-year, $60MM extension despite only appearing in 50 games last season.
- Cade Cunningham made a strong impression playing for the U.S. Select Team this summer. The Pistons guard ready to break out his All-Star potential after undergoing shin surgery early last season, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. “What people saw (at USA Basketball camp, where Cunningham starred with the Select Team) this summer was Cade just being healthy,” Weaver said. “He didn’t do anything we didn’t think he couldn’t do. He was just healthy for the first time. He’s able to really explode off that leg and play with his mind free of not worrying about his leg. He’s the lynchpin of what we’re doing and we’re excited that he’s healthy.”
Isaiah Livers will miss six to eight weeks with a Grade III left ankle sprain, the Pistons announced (via Twitter). The third-year forward suffered the injury during a recent workout.
Livers was already facing a battle for playing time in Detroit’s frontcourt, and this latest setback won’t help his position on the depth chart. With the team’s opener set for October 25, Livers could miss a month or more of the regular season.
After being limited to 19 games as a rookie because of a stress fracture in his foot, the 25-year-old became a regular part of the Pistons’ rotation last season, playing 23.1 minutes per night in 52 games and making 22 starts. He averaged 6.7 points and 2.8 rebounds per night while shooting 41.7% from the field and 36.5% from three-point range.
A second-round pick in 2021, Livers is making $1.8MM in the final season of his three-year contract. He will be eligible for restricted free agency next summer.
- Uncovering how Monty Williams plans to utilize Joe Harris and whether Killian Hayes and James Wiseman — lottery picks not signed beyond this season — can establish roles are a couple of the training camp questions looming for the Pistons, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press writes.
Another Central Division team could be making a deal soon. While the Pistons can’t upstage Milwaukee’s acquisition of Damian Lillard, they have been active in trade talks over the last few weeks, James Edwards III of The Athletic reports.
Edwards speculates that James Wiseman, Marvin Bagley, Killian Hayes, Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks are the candidates to be dealt, which could clear a logjam at some positions and open up more playing time for the Pistons’ rookies. In Hayes’ case, the 2020 lottery pick doesn’t appear to be in the team’s plans after acquiring Monte Morris and drafting Marcus Sasser.
Magic Johnson has turned down chances to join NBA ownership groups and says that due to his loyalty to the Lakers, he’d only consider a chance to be part of an ownership group with the Knicks, Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press reports.
“I think because of the way fans love basketball you might have to think about that one, because I love coming to New York and going to the Garden and watching the Knicks play,” he said. “I love being with fans who are so passionate about their team and the Knick fans are, and they’re smart. They’re smart basketball fans and so that one I would have to think about. I think that other than that, I would probably never think about ever being a part of another franchise.”
Johnson hasn’t spoken with Madison Square Garden executive chairman James Dolan about his dream of owning a piece of the franchise. Johnson, who is a minority owner of the Washington Commanders, said he has declined opportunities to join the Warriors, Pistons, and Hawks ownership groups, but wouldn’t mind meeting with Dolan.
“That one you would really have to think about, in terms of being a minority owner of that team,” he said. “But other than that, I would just stay with the Lakers and even with my role now, just being a fan, I’m happy just doing that with the Lakers because, again, I bleed purple and gold.”
We have more from the around the basketball world:
- Former NBA guard Matthew Dellavedova was disappointed he wasn’t part of Australia’s World Cup team this summer and is motivated to prove he belongs on its Olympic team, Olgun Uluc of ESPN reports. He’s playing for Melbourne United this season. “For me, the Boomers is the ultimate,” Dellavedova said. “I’ve never taken it for granted. I know how fortunate I’ve been to represent Australia. I still feel like my best basketball is ahead of me, so I definitely want to be part of the Boomers for as long as possible. The goal is to try to help United win a championship, and do whatever I can to make the team for Paris.”
- LeBron James‘ son, Bronny James, didn’t participate in USC’s first practice though his coach says he’s doing well health-wise, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Bronny suffered cardiac arrest during a workout on July 24. “We anticipate him being a very valuable part of our basketball team,” coach Andy Enfield said. “But that’ll be all sorted out. He’s the ultimate teammate because he cares about winning, and he has such a personal relationship with all his teammates.”
- Turkish team Anadolu Efes is considering making another roster addition and may be eyeing NBA free agents, Johnny Askounis of Eurohoops.net relays. “Of course, when it comes to players of such quality, they are waiting for the NBA before making a final decision,” GM Alper Yilmaz said. “I will not name players, but we are considering three players. Maybe two different names come to my attention every single day. We don’t want to sign a player without the head coach’s approval.”
After making only minor roster moves for a second straight summer, the middling Bulls might be best served by fully embracing a tank, opines Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times.
Cowley writes that team president Arturas Karnisovas and general manager Marc Eversley need to concede that their momentous roster reconstruction in 2021 ultimately did not succeed, and the club must now pivot to offloading big veterans in exchange for future draft equity. Cowley believes Chicago’s top priority should be finding a young point guard it can build around.
With star wings DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine leading the charge, the Bulls have gone a cumulative 86-78 over the past two regular seasons, with just a single playoff game win to their credit.
There’s more out of the Central Division:
- Though Bucks All-NBA power forward Giannis Antetokounmpo is now eligible to ink a three-year, $169MM contract extension, he has indicated he intends to wait until next summer to make a decision. At that point, he could agree to a four-year deal worth a projected $234MM (or potentially more, depending on where the NBA’s salary cap lands). He has a $51.9MM player option for the 2025/26 season. Should Antetokounmpo eventually ask for a trade, he would entice the entire league, Adrian Wojnarowski said on Friday on ESPN’s NBA Today (YouTube video link). “Listen, the possibility of a player like Giannis Antetokounmpo becoming available, it creates a frenzy around the league behind closed doors,” Woj said.
- Second-year Pistons shooting guard Jaden Ivey is hoping to take a step up defensively in 2023/24, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. The 6’4″ guard showed improvement as a shooter and passer throughout his rookie season last year, and is now looking to develop on the other side of the ball. “Being able to just play better defense, I think that’s what I tried to lock into more [over the summer],” Sankofa opines. “Using my speed to get through ball screens and not giving up on ball screen reads. Always staying on the play, always staying involved defensively. I feel like I got better in that aspect.”
- In a new reader mailbag, Sankofa addresses a variety of Pistons topics, including whether he thinks Detroit could try to trade for Pacers sharpshooter Buddy Hield, whether or not combo forward Isaiah Livers will earn rotation minutes amidst a deeper frontcourt, and more.
Of the players eligible for rookie scale extensions in 2023, five have signed new contracts. What will happen with the remaining group?
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explored that topic today, making predictions on which players will sign extensions and which won’t. The players who don’t sign extensions before the start of the 2023/24 regular season will be eligible for restricted free agency in the summer of 2024.
Let’s start with former No. 2 overall pick James Wiseman, who is now on the Pistons after being traded in February.
“No deal to be done,” sources told Pincus. “He has too much to prove unless he wants an extremely team-friendly extension. This one will wait.”
How about Magic guard Cole Anthony, who is a member of a crowded backcourt in Orlando?
“I think they move Anthony, maybe even before the season. But I don’t think they extend him,” one player agent said.
Ultimately, Pincus believes most of the rookie scale candidates will hit restricted free agency next summer, but a handful could get extensions and a few more have situations worth monitoring.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- The Overtime Elite league has finalized its rosters for the ’23/24 season, tweets Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com. A total of 31 players on three teams will compete in OTE during the upcoming campaign. A number of prospects have been drafted from the upstart league over the past couple seasons, including Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, twin brothers who were back-to-back lottery picks in June (Nos. 4 and 5, respectively).
- ESPN’s Dave McMenamin takes an in-depth look at the competitive summer pickup games at UCLA’s student center, which are run by former Bruins guard and current Sixers assistant Rico Hines. Multiple NBA players and teams are in attendance every year, McMenamin writes, including Warriors star Stephen Curry last offseason. “For me, it’s how can somebody get from being a two-way player or just a subpar player to then getting, ‘Man, he’s made it. He’s a real NBA player,'” Hines said. “That’s what it’s about for me.”
- Some NBA games will be streamed on Max this season, according to Richard Deitsch and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic. The games will be part of an add-on package in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery Sports, and will cost $9.99 per month.
Addressing Donovan Mitchell‘s contract situation on Thursday during an NBA Today appearance, Brian Windhorst of ESPN (Twitter video link) echoed a point he made in early August, suggesting that he doesn’t expect Mitchell to sign an extension this offseason and that he doesn’t believe that will be a major cause for concern for the Cavaliers.
Mitchell has two guaranteed years left on his current contract, which will pay him $33.2MM in 2023/24 and $35.4MM in ’24/25, with a player option for ’25/26. He’s eligible to sign an extension now, but could lock in a longer-term deal if he waits until next summer.
Still, Windhorst is curious to hear what Mitchell has to say publicly about his contract when he’s asked about on Media Day. It would raise eyebrows around the NBA if Mitchell follows Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s playbook and makes it clear to reporters that his future in Cleveland isn’t assured, Windhorst notes, though he doesn’t expect the All-Star guard to go that route.
“My expectation is Donovan, who’s a total pro, will handle this like he did in Utah, which was pledge his undying love to the Jazz but also keep his options open,” Windhorst said.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- Antetokounmpo officially became extension-eligible on Friday, but the Bucks star has, of course, already signaled that he doesn’t plan to sign a new contract before the season begins. With that in mind, ESPN provides an in-depth look at Antetokounmpo’s options, explaining why it would benefit the star forward financially to wait until at least next offseason to consider a new deal and evaluating how the new CBA might impact the situation.
- Asked on the Behind the Play podcast (YouTube link) about the odds of Antetokounmpo remaining in Milwaukee beyond his current contract, ESPN’s Windhorst said he thinks it’s very much up in the air. “I would say right now it’s 50/50 at best, and I don’t think that’s new information to the Bucks. I think the Bucks knew that already. They knew that even before they got knocked out of the playoffs last year,” Windhorst said. “If you look at the Bucks’ roster, which is primarily in its 30s, you look at the Bucks’ asset base, which is depleted, and you look at Giannis, who’s 28 years old, they are on different tracks.”
- Pistons guard Cade Cunningham spoke to Tomas Azarly of ClutchPoints about his experience with the U.S. Select Team this summer and what he learned last season while spending most of the year sidelined due to a leg injury. Cunningham said that staying healthy is his biggest goal in 2023/24, followed closely by a desire to help Detroit win more games. “I want to take a leap for next year and get closer to being a championship caliber team,” he said.
The attorney for Koby Altman submitted a plea of not guilty on his behalf on Tuesday after the Cavaliers president of basketball operations was charged with committing a marked lanes violation and operating a vehicle while impaired, per TMZ Sports.
Police video obtained by TMZ and News 5 Cleveland (YouTube link) showed Altman appearing to struggle to complete a series of field sobriety tests after being pulled over in Cleveland on Friday night. The Cavaliers executive told officers that he was “exhausted” after returning from a trip overseas and was driving home after a long dinner.
The Cavaliers, who initially issued a brief statement announcing that they were gathering information on the incident, have put out a follow-up statement, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com (Twitter links).
“We hold our team members to a high standard of conduct and expect leaders at every level of our organization to represent the Cavaliers with integrity, professionalism and accountability,” the Cavs said. “We will continue to closely monitor the facts and circumstances of this matter and await resolution of the legal process.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- In a discussion about the best offseason move made by a Central Division team, Josh Robbins and James L. Edwards III of The Athletic both pick the Pacers‘ signing of Bruce Brown, while their colleague Darnell Mayberry chooses the Pistons‘ hiring of Monty Williams as their new head coach.
- Within the same story, Edwards, Robbins, and Mayberry identify Pistons guard Cade Cunningham and Pacers forward Obi Toppin and Jarace Walker as some of the top breakout candidates in the Central.
- The majority of the Pacers‘ players were in attendance for Summer League in Las Vegas, signaling the team’s growing chemistry and a culture that’s on the right trajectory, contends Scott Agness of Fieldhouse Files (subscription required).