Feb. 7, 2026, 5:15 p.m. ET
How impactful is a G League affiliate to the development of a franchise’s culture and its players?
HoopsHype was granted exclusive access to Motor City Cruise’s players and coaching staff during their trip to the G League Showcase in Orlando, Florida, this past December 2025, to find out.
This venture began with a conversation with Motor City’s president of basketball ops, Durand “Speedy” Walker, and Cruise head coach Jamelle McMillan after their practice on Court Four, which was set up in the back of the Orange County Convention Center.
The Detroit Pistons‘ “One Roof” philosophy, which pairs the NBA team with its G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, and shares the same practice facility, is designed to create a seamless ecosystem. As Walker explained, this model allows G League players to see the standard every day:
“When you’re a G League player, you get a chance to look over, and you see the front sideline watching you practice. Instead of you just wondering what it’s like, you may be coming in and getting a chance to see it, touch it all the time.”
According to Pistons Executive VP of Basketball Operations Michael Blackstone, this proximity transforms the G League into an integral part of the team’s daily operations.
“The proximity for us, not only the players, but the staff, they’re literally in the same hallway I’m in,” Blackstone told HoopsHype. “So for us, it’s not just an add-on at the end of a sentence. It’s part of our everyday operations: how we’re treating it, how we assign guys, how they’re playing, and the review of that. That proximity is obviously something we’re taking advantage of, our ability to connect with them not just on Zoom. but in person on a daily basis.”
Canadian center Charles Bediako went undrafted in 2023 and signed a two-way deal with the Spurs, but a torn MCL ended his rookie season and led to his release. After stints with the Grand Rapids Gold, he returned to the University of Alabama to regain his collegiate eligibility. Of his time in Detroit’s system, Bediako noted that unlike other organizations where affiliates “switch it up,” the Pistons ensure that “everything that they do up there with the main team, they also bring on to the G League.”
Rookie Chaz Lanier described it as a “super gritty organization from top down,” while fourth-year veteran Wendell Moore Jr. made a point of the positives the team’s approach has: “We practice in the same facility, we do everything right in the same facility, so we kinda take whatever culture they have up top and instill it in everything we do here in the G League.”
The system’s effectiveness shows up in players like second-year guard Daniss Jenkins, who’s on a two-way contract. In a more siloed organization, a player in his position might put up nice G League numbers that never translate into winning. But because the Cruise prioritize role translation over raw scoring, Jenkins has been able to shift between being a primary option for Motor City and a gritty, high-IQ role player for Detroit.
For second-year big Bobi Klintman, Jenkins’s rise is a definitive proof of concept: “Most definitely, like Daniss and I, we were sitting this together last year. And now it’s just like he got the opportunity, and now the world is seeing it. So whenever my opportunity comes, I’m gonna be ready for that.”
Ultimately, the “One Roof” approach is about optimizing every element of development through integration.
This allows the Detroit Pistons to have confidence that a call-up isn’t just adding a body to the roster; it’s adding a player pre-programmed with the franchise’s DNA.
“You gotta deal with the character of who the person is that I’m bringing in to be a part of it. You gotta fit that first,” Walker said. “If you develop the same concept, same mantra, about the toughness, the grit, then you have guys that are gonna be Piston quality players.”
You can follow Cyro Asseo (@CyroAsseo) on X, formerly known as Twitter, orBlue Sky. Email me comments, thoughts or ideas to CAsseo@usatoday.com.
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