Detroit Pistons Training Camp Roster Analysis Who Will SHINE This Season?

Detroit Pistons Training Camp Roster Analysis Who Will SHINE This Season?

What is up, guys? Welcome to Pistons Talk podcast. Hope you guys are having a great night so far. In today’s episode, what we’ll be discussing is the Detroit Pistons training camp roster. Now, I know officially the Detroit Pistons have not uh put out a tweet uh from their public relations department. I have been following each Detroit Piston signing. I made a depth chart. I’ve tracked everything this summer. Um, we’re going to be going over it. We’ll be discussing and talking about each individual player for maybe a minute to three minutes at the most. Um, and kind of just breaking down this training camp roster. I also want to give some love to certain players on this depth chart that are on the training camp roster. Some players to look out for to possibly maybe being on the Motor City Cruise or maybe that final roster spot. Really don’t know what’s going to happen with that final roster spot. So, it should be a fun episode. Let’s get into it. As I mentioned at the top of the podcast, I did make a graphic for every player that the Detroit Pistons have signed, whether it was free agency this summer, um, you know, training camp deals that we’re getting a little bit more as we get closer to the NBA preseason. Um, this is normal. It’s normal to carry this many guys going into the preseason. Um, you need bodies to practice, so it does make sense that the Pistons have 22 players on their roster as of right now. It will get cut down to 15 standard contracts and three two-ways as you guys know, but we’re going to be going over each individual player in this graphic that I did make today. If you’re audio listener, I’m going to keep you guys in this conversation like I always try to do. We got point guard through center and just kind of like a depth chart. Obviously, this is my depth chart. It’s not going to be, you know, maybe on par with like what JB Bicker Staff does or other people that make their depth charts. Uh, depth charts are honestly meant to be picked apart and debated and I want you guys to join in on the conversation. Like, if there’s a player that I have in here that you just don’t agree with, let me know. Like, let me know and say, “Hey, like I don’t agree that you have Duncan Robinson at shooting guard. I think I have Mars as small forward.” Like, let me know. Like, that that’s why I love doing podcast with you guys. There’s discourse here. Um, and it’s just healthy, fun conversations. But, let’s get into this depth chart. Okay. rambled for over a minute and a half. Apologize. So, Kate Cunningham, I think we can all agree he’s going to be the starting point guard. There’s no debating there. Uh all-star last season, 26 points a game, nine assist. Has had a hell of a season, man. I’m I’m really intrigued and interested to see what does happen with Jaden Ivy coming back in the fold. Is he still able to average that 26 points a game? Um, do the assists go down a little bit since he won’t have the ball in his hands as much? I do think he still will have the ball in his hands. I just don’t think we’re gonna see the usage that we did because there was no Jay Navy. It was like Malik Beasley, Tim Hardway Jr., and Dennis Schroeder. Obviously, none of those guys are on the roster. Malik Beasley is still kind of pending. We’re not going to get into that in today’s episode, but you guys get what I’m saying. K’s going to be your starting point guard. There’s no really debating that. Starting shooting guard, I have Jaden Ivy. Um, he started next to Kade in 30 games last year. Um, and I I really liked what I saw out of Jaden Ivy last year. I really thought he was, you know, putting it all together, you know, 17 points a game, shot 40% from three, 41% to be exact on five attempts a game. I I I think the one thing with him that I have questions with is are they going to, you know, play him, you know, high30s right off the gate coming off of that injury? Are they going to maybe have him on a minute restriction to start the season? We’ll have to wait and see how these preseason games go. I think that’ll answer a lot of the questions that I have personally, but as of right now, he is going to be my starting shooting guard in this depth chart for this video. Small forward, I think we can also agree like Assar Thompson to me is your starting small forward. Last season was tough, not only for Assar, but for Pistons fans, the the blood clot situation was just like really like we didn’t know when he was going to play. We didn’t know when he was going to come back. Uh, and when he did come back, I was so impressed with the way he conditioned himself on the fly, you know, training camp. Um, and you know, once he did get into, you know, back into basketball shape and his conditioning, uh, got better. We just saw how dominant he is defensively. Offensively, I think we still have our questions uh, with Assar. Did the jump shot improve this off season with Fred Vincent? Did free did his free throw improve? Obviously, he got to the free throw line a lot during the playoffs against the Knicks. Uh, can he be a 70% free throw shooter? I think those are the questions I have going into the season with the SAR. Did the handle get tighter? So, um, he’s one player that I have a lot of questions about and my expectations for him are very high because I see the type of player that he could possibly be, but he is my starting small forward in this projection. Starting power forward, still have Tobias Harris. She’s on the last year of a deal. I think last season I was really impressed with Tobias Harris crashing the glass like the type of rebounder he was. I didn’t expect that. Um I thought the defense was really good. Uh given his age and when we talk about someone being 30 and calling them old in NBA terms is crazy to me cuz I’m the same age as Tobias Harris. I think I might be like six months older. I’m 33. He’s 32. But you guys kind of get the point. Like Tobias is getting up there in age. He will be the Detroit Pistons starting power forward. Given if they address this or not, I don’t really think they are going to uh right now given the market. There’s not a whole lot of uh power forwards in the free agency market that you could sign. Do you trade for one? I don’t know. Did they pull a, you know, a cat thing where the Knicks just trade for cat like a day before the season? I’m not sure if there’s a trade like that even available on the market right now across the NBA. But right now, Tobias Harris uh is going to be my starting power forward. starting center Jaylen Duran. Um, obviously first 25 games of the season was very inconsistent for JD, but I really thought after that press conference calling himself out saying that he was playing soft and I I think the coaching staff really worked with him during the season and during the off season he’s been working uh with the guard whisperer who also trains Evan Mobley who’s really transformed his game uh you know shooting threes mid-range post up. So JD’s been in the lab with one of the better uh NBA trainers uh this summer. And I’ve told you guys I I think we might see some jump shots out of him this year. I I I think there’s going to be situations, maybe it’s late clock situations. Um that he’s shooting some elbow jumpers, just kind of expanding his game that way. Maybe it’s like one or two a game, but I’m expecting big things out of JD. Obviously him and Jay Ivy are in the contract extension boat right now. they have until October to, you know, get something straightened out. I don’t really know if they’re going to, and if they don’t, it’s not really a red flag, but it’ll be interesting to see if either of these guys uh get contract extensions. But let’s recap the starting lineup real quick. So, Kate Cunningham at point guard, Jaden Ivy at shooting guard, Assar Thompson, small forward, Tobias Harris, power forward, and Jaylen Duran center. Um, I think that’s going to be your starting five. Uh obviously with Jaden Ivy only playing 30 games, Sar wasn’t in the lineup. So you had THJ in that situation a lot of the time. So uh this starting five only played a whopping two games together for a total of five minutes per NBA.com, which is wild to think about you guys. So, um really interested to see a healthy off season from the starting five and how they can gel together, how they can um play together on the floor healthy. Let’s get into the second unit. I know there’s going to be debate here already and that I’m fine with that. I want you guys to debate with me. I want you guys to tell me uh why do you have this player here? So, I have Caris Levert as a backup point guard. Now, he’s played shooting guard in different stops in his career. Trejan Langden had mentioned um with the media a couple months ago, he envisions Jade Ivy and Caris Levert splitting the minutes at point guard. I did a podcast with uh Zaric on Sunday. If you guys haven’t watched or listened to that, definitely do. And after talking to him, I think he kind of changed my thought process because by default, I just had Jade Ivy as a backup point guard because that’s what happened last year when they staggered Kate Cunningham and Jaden Ivy. Jaden Ivy was just the backup point guard. But since the Pistons haven’t signed a a backup guard, there are some options as you guys can see. Um some G-League options, some two-way options. But I think Caris LeVert to me is going to get a lot of onball reps leading the second unit. Now, could Jade Ivy, you know, lead the second unit as a a backup point guard? Absolutely. I I honestly think like Harris Levert and Jade Ivy are going to split a lot of these minutes. Um I I could see some nights Jaden Ivy is just taking the ball up the court and Caris is playing off ball. I could see some nights Caris is bringing the ball up the court and Jane Ivy is playing off ball. There’s a lot of versatility here um with this second unit and I honestly think um just for this video, this podcast, I have Caris as the backup point guard for the Pistons, backup shooting guard to backup Jaden Abby. I have Duncan Robinson. Now, I honestly think the way they pivoted from Malik Beasley to Duncan Robinson, you know, trading Simone Facio, getting the deal that you got Duncan Robinson on initially, I’ve told you guys I crashed out when I saw the three years 48 million because I thought that was kind of a lot, but to see that it was just a one-year guaranteed like fully guaranteed deal and then the last two years of the contract are non-G guaranteed. Now, this is just kind of like a one-year deal deal essentially uh to see um if Duncan can really flow with this second unit. I could see situations in, you know, in crunch time. Maybe Duncan Robinson is out there if you need more floor spacers. He’s a very versatile player. So, you know, he can play shooting guard. Uh he can bring the ball off the court sometimes. He can play small forward. Miami had him at power forward last year, which Miami was just on just some crazy crazy lineups with Spo down there. I really don’t know what’s going down in Miami. Um, a 67 Duncan Robinson at power forward. I said 67. I know someone’s going to be in the comments. He said 67. Grow up. But I I do have Duncan Robinson um at backup shooting guard uh for the Detroit Pistons. backup small forward to back up a sar Thompson got Ryan Holland. Now Ron Holland to me I think can play in between two through three. I think there could be situations where maybe you know you’re in foul trouble or the team’s a little bit smaller. He could throw Ron Holland at power forward, but I think that’s such a niche lineup that it might happen maybe once or twice this year. But I do have him as a backup small forward. I really just love the way he played last year. I I love that he came in, identified a role for himself, and he thrived in it. He he he was the energizer. He really helped the second unit push the pace. um if the starting lineup wasn’t running uh playing that transition game, Ron Holland immediately would be just a defensive menace out there and he would push the pace and talk and you might get in a couple of fights. Love that about Ron Holland. He’s one of my favorite players on this team. But I do have him as a backup small forward. I’m expecting really big things out of him. I I’ve told you guys before in previous podcasts this summer that summer league really had me feeling good about him. Had me feeling good about his sophomore season. Um that jump shot looks really good. His landing looks a lot better. Um his passing I thought was on full display. His processing was great. His defense I thought was better than it was. But I know it’s summer league and it’s really hard to, you know, take away positives because a lot of those guys are G-League guys or non-G guaranteed guys on, you know, fighting for, uh, you know, NBA roster spots. But that’s what you want to see out of, you know, your former number five overall pick from a season ago. But I have him as a backup small forward on this team. Now, backup power forward. This This is so hard because like I’ve had so many conversations with different podcasters, different YouTubers, and I’ve gotten a couple of different answers. I’ve had some people tell me, “It’s a Sar Thompson. A Sar Thompson’s going to be your backup power forward.” I’ve had people come up and tell me, “Hey, Anthony, they just signed Javvante Green. Javvante Green can play some uh power forward. You know, he’s got a seven foot wingspan. He’s 6’5.” I’ve I’ve seen some people flood out the idea maybe Isaiah Stewart can play some backup power forward be behind Tobias. I’ve even seen maybe Bobby Clipman is ready for that backup power forward minutes. I don’t know you guys. I have no idea what they’re going to do at backup forward. They haven’t addressed it. Um could play it theoretically? Yes. Um but I feel good about it. Probably not just because I I I don’t want to stagger him. I I don’t even like staggering Jaden Ivy. I I just don’t I’d rather keep these guys fresh um throughout the season, but I get lineup shuffling and can be very difficult for a coach. And I’m not a coach. I’m not sitting up here saying that I’m a coach. I don’t know. Um but I mean, if you are going to play a SAR at power forward, cool. Until you address one, until you sign one. kind of reminds me of the backup point guard situation we had last year where you know each postgame podcast we’re coming up here and saying like man if we just had a backup point guard to settle things down because Kade’s gassed by the fourth quarter Jade Ivy’s gassed by the fourth quarter. I kind of think the same thing is going to happen with Tobias and like knock on wood anything happens to Tobias like who’s going to be your starting power forward? Like you’re relying a lot on Tobias to stay healthy. And then what are you going to do a backup power forward? I don’t have the answers. Maybe the preseason will give us an indication of what JB may be thinking um with that backup for. But as of right now, we just don’t have one. Definitely let me know if you’re watching live on YouTube right now your thought process with the backup power forward situation. If there’s anyone in this depth chart you think that can kind of slide in and add a backup for. Do you think it’s going to be Assar staggering with, you know, small forward minutes and power forward minutes? Do you think they’ll try Bobby Clipman to see if he’s ready for it? Could you see Javvante Green? Could you see Ron Holland? Definitely let me know. It’s one question I have and I just don’t have, excuse me, the answer to. So, backup center, it’s Isaiah Stewart. I don’t think anyone’s going to disagree with me here. um what he did last season I thought was so important for his role because I’ve really felt whether it was Dwayne Casey the no shot at Dwayne Casey because I always felt the two big lineup was kind of forced um from the organization internally because even before Dwayne Casey got here uh they were trying the two big lineups you guys remember like the Andre Drummond Greg Monroe two big lineups with Josh Smith like the organization has always tried to do this two big lineup up thing and it just hasn’t hasn’t worked. Only kind of worked with Blake Griffin and Andre because Blake could shoot. I know I’m rambling here. I really felt that JB came in and he identified a role for Isaiah Stewart. He identified him as just being that disruptor defensively, protecting the rim, and thriving in it. Obviously, I’d like to see Isaiah Stewart score more. I’d like to see him pick and pop a little bit more. I’d really like to see him just, you know, shoot the ball a little bit more, man. Uh if if I can get like seven, eight points a game out of Isaiah Stewart as my backup center, man, I am good. I am good. If you’re bringing that rim protection, you’re bringing that switchability defensively to me that just in the contract too, 15 million a year over a backup center right now is cheap. Um that contract is probably one of the best contracts in the league. Really like Isaiah Stewart as the backup center. I think this is kind of be a combination of like what you’ll see in terms of the rotation. I think I definitely got center right. Probably got backup shooting guard right and maybe backup small forward. I think you could definitely debate with backup point guard. You could fill me in who’s going to be the backup four because I just don’t know you guys. But um those are the backups. Now this is where podcast just gets like basketball sickle territory. You guys, if you want to click off, I completely understand. Uh because we’re getting into G-League guys. We’re getting into guys that get no playing time. But let’s get into it. Third string point guard, Dinus Jenkins. He’s a two-way guy. Played his ass off during the summer league, and I was so impressed with his pace. I’ve been impressed with his pace since the Pistons signed him. Um ju just the way he plays basketball. I’ve been so impressed with um the defense I I think did improve. Uh he just tore it up in the G- League this year. Absolutely tore it up. I I think he’s a big reason why they had a lot of success um in the G. Now, does he make the team? I’m not entirely sure. I I think if he has a similar camp or a similar production as he did in summer league, Trey Jen and JB, they’re going to have some really tough decisions to make. Um who’s going to make that 15th roster spot if they are going to fill it or if they’re just kind of still playing the waiting game with the Malik Beasley situation. Um, there’s that. But Donnage Jenkins to me is a player I think you guys should pay attention to. He’s a player that will probably get some clock during the preseason and he’s on a two-way so he can spend time with the Detroit Pistons and time with the Motor City Crews. So, if you want to possibly catch Donis Jenkins at a Cruise game, he’ll probably be the starting point guard. Um, as for the Pistons, really interested to see what does happen with preseason games. So, third string shooting guard, I have Marcus Sasser. Now, I’ve mentioned Marcus Sasser the past three weeks on the pod, and it it’s all in the context of like what do the Pistons do with him? And I I just don’t know. He’s in a really tough spot. Last year, he played uh third string point guard, I want to say. He did play backup point guard when Jaden Ivy got hurt, but I think where the Pistons are at, I think Harris and Jaden will probably get most of the, you know, on ball reps there. So, you’re going to slate Marcus Sasser in at a third string shooting guard. Uh, we’ve seen when he does get playing time, he produces, he can score. Um, he’s a very tenacious defender. It’s just right now there’s just not a solidified role uh for him under JB Bicker Staff. And like I’ve mentioned, it’s not really his fault. He was drafted by a previous regime. Um, and it just is what it is at this point. So, back up small forward Javvante Green. Now, he was signed I want to say maybe it was a month ago. Maybe it was like two or three weeks ago. Times is flying by so fast, you guys. He was signed and I think a lot of people were like, “Huh?” Cuz at that time, the Pistons had two available roster spots. They signed Green. He’s known for his defense. Shot okay from three, like 30ish% from three. Not really entirely sure if he’s going to make the roster, but there’s a good chance. Um, he’s a good defender. Uh, I had mentioned he probably would play a Wendell Moore role if you guys remember him last year. Um, he played in some games with the Detroit Pistons, but didn’t play in each and every game. He only really played if there was an injury or if it was a blowout. I I think Javvante Green um will play a similar role and I I think he’s a a good player to have on this roster given you have a Sar Thompson and Ron Holland. I think going up in practice against a player like that that is known for his defense can really challenge these guys and you know make them better. Iron sharpens iron. So you’re going up against a guy that is a good defender. He’s just going to make players like Assar and Ron or you know Jade Ivy or Kate Cunningham or whoever he’s going up against in practice better. So Javvante Green is a third string small forward. I think there could be a situation where maybe he’s a backup power forward. I just don’t know. 65 7 foot wingspan. So there’s a little bit of information about Javvante Green that I could find. Now third string power forward. He was a second round pick Bobby Clintman. Now, Bobby spent most of his time last season with the Motor City Crews. He had a calf contusion for several months. Uh that’s why the Pistons didn’t play him. And then when he did play, it was the final game of the season. I I thought he did pretty good. Uh didn’t really make too many impressions from me personally with the Pistons because he just didn’t get the opportunity to play. There was, you know, garbage time. He wasn’t scoring. It was just kind of passing, rebounding. But you can’t really evaluate someone that is playing with like 30 20 seconds left in a game, right? Um I I think with Bobby, the summer league was very underwhelming for me. I think there was a lot of eyes on him. There’s a lot of expectations given like what he did in the summer league last season and he he did pretty well in the G-League. I just don’t know what to expect out of him. It might be another development year for him with the Motor City Crews and that’s completely fine. Um, if he needs more development, I’m not really expecting Bobby to come in and, you know, play 30 minutes a game. If he’s not ready for the backup power forward position, that’s fine. That is completely fine. But I I I really don’t know what to expect out of him this season. Maybe he does have a good, you know, training camp, you know, lights it up in the preseason. Maybe we’re having conversations of, you know, maybe we do have a backup power forward in Bobby Clipman. He did add weight, 611, can handle the rock, can pass. Just need him to, you know, make those open three-point shots a little bit more for my liking to feel confident up here. Okay, third string center. Paul Reed Ball ball. So, he’s probably not going to play that much uh this upcoming season. I think I’ll have a similar role where whether Isaiah Stewart or Jaylen Dur are in foul trouble, Paul Reed will play. Um, if there’s an injury, hope not, Paul Reed will probably play. Or maybe JB’s just looking for a different look. Um, I I think he was in a similar boat to Marcus Sasser where this team has a lot of depth, but it’s good to carry three centers on the roster and I think that’s why the Detroit Pistons decided to bring him back. We do have Paul Reed. Um, as a third string center, we are going into the home stretch of this podcast. We’re going to get into four stringers and fifth stringers. I am just going to take a quick break, take a drink of water because I’ve been talking non-stop for about 25 minutes. So, give me a second and we’ll finish up this podcast with these four string and fifth string guys. Okay, let’s wrap this up. So, last night the Detroit Pistons signed a point guard and they signed Quincy I think it’s Al of Alier if I had to try to just try it first try. So, he played for the Lakers last year. He was undrafted. He’s one of their two-way guys. He just got signed. Now, if that name does sound familiar, really big fan of Steph Curry. Got a picture with Steph. Steph literally signed him to Under Armour, uh, because that’s how much he liked the kid. A little, you know, tidbit, cool story about him. Um, don’t really know what to expect out of him. If I did have to make a guess, this is going to be a Motor City Cruise guy. This is going to be possibly a backup point guard uh with the Cruz. It could be Donis Jenkins and him. Those could be your, you know, one and two starting point guard, backup point guard. So, a lot of these guys that are on training camp deals are G-League guys that could play for the Motor City Crews or they’re auditioning for other teams across the league. You also have to remember that. So, four string shooting guard, the Detroit Pistons only draft pick this summer, Chaz Laneir. Now, Chaz Laneir, I think when you look at the shooting guard depth, I don’t really see a whole lot of room for him right now. Now, that could change. It could change if he has a good training camp and um I almost said summer league, uh you know, good preseason games, but as of right now, I just don’t see a whole lot of clock for him. Um, he could be a player like Bobby Clipman that’s just spending time in the G-League and developing that way. Um, you see it with organizations that are playoff teams that they draft these guys and they’re in the G- League, they get priorities, so they’re starting, they’re getting all those reps, they’re getting, you know, they’re 15 shots a night and, you know, working with these G-League coaches to develop the correct way. I think that could be a path for Chaz Laneir. Again, shooting guard is probably the most stacked room right now uh with the Pistons. They have so many shooting guards on this roster and you guys can see it. I mean, they’re five deep with this just training camp roster. Um four string small forward Bryce Williams. Now, Bryce Williams was on the summer league team. I think a lot of Pistons fans were very hyped about him and deservedly so. He went undrafted. um didn’t really see too much out of him in the summer league. He was actually off the bench, which I was kind of surprised. I thought he would actually get um you know, starting minutes, but that really wasn’t the case. Didn’t really see too much out of him to really form an opinion, but you can kind of look at his, you know, college stats, played in the Big 10, did pretty well. Um, this could be a guy as well that is auditioning for uh a two-way contract with other NBA teams or he could be here locally for the Motor City Cruise, you know, playing a small forward and contributing as a starter or maybe even off the bench. Dawson Garcia, that name does sound familiar. He was also on the Detroit Pistons uh summer league team. He’s a stretch four. Um made a couple in the summer league. Nothing really to note here. Uh can really play out of the post. Pass a little bit. Uh but again, didn’t really see too much out of him to for me to have a very strong opinion about him. I think preseason will tell me a little bit more about uh what the type of player he is and what his pathway may be uh in the NBA. Um four string center. This is a two-way contract. Tlu Smith, I’m sure a lot of you guys are familiar with Toloo Smith. uh played with the Motor City Crews starting center, got a two-way contract on the second half of the G-League season, spent some time with the Detroit Pistons. He was on their training camp roster last season. Um, a lot of fans are really high on Toloo Smith, and I I can understand why. He’s just a very intriguing player, but I have him as a four string center. Much like the the shooting guard room, the center room is pretty stacked in itself. and you have Jaylen Dur, Isaiah Stewart, and Paul Reed. Uh Tol Smith to me is just going to be your four string center. And then to wrap up this podcast, you guys, the Motor City Crews did make a trade last week and they traded for Charles Benediko. Now, Charles Badiko played for the San Antonio Spurs uh G-League team, the Austin Spurs. He played for the Denver NEG Denver Nuggets affiliate. um the Grand Rapids gold here locally in Michigan, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Um so the crews actually traded for him. And I think what you’ll see out of him is he’s going to be competing with Tou Smith in terms of not with the Pistons, with the two-way stuff. I think he’ll be competing with Tou Smith more in the G-League. Um because I think there’s a good shot that Tollu does get recognized by another NBA team. They might try to standard contract him eventually. Uh but Charles to me will be playing backup center. There’s a reason why the Crews uh do this so often. They get a lot of their players poached um from other NBA organizations because they do a very good job of developing those guys down there. Jamal McMillan does a hell of a job. He’s had so many players poached from him. um it’s because he’s a good coach and he gets these guys ready for the NBA. But um I could definitely see Charles and Toloo battling out in the Motor City Cruise this year. But that’s all 22 players on this training camp roster, you guys. Um I know this podcast is a little bit longer, about 30 minutes solo podcast. I usually try to keep under 20 minutes, but let me know what you guys think of the 2025 2026 Detroit Pistons training camp roster. Are there any players on this list that you’re excited to watch like outside of the starters? Let me know what they’re doing at Backup for you guys. I just don’t know. Uh hope you guys are having a great night. I’ll talk to you guys down below in the comment section like always. Hope you guys are staying safe. Take care and go Pistons.

Tonight on Pistons Talk Podcast, I broke down the Detroit Pistons training camp roster and went over each player for a couple of minutes.

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