Detroit

Pistons

In the final game of the preseason, the Raptors starters sat out. Okorie played only nine minutes at the end of the game against the end of Toronto’s bench, but he was electric. The 19-year-old point guard couldn’t miss, going 4-for-4 from the field. He sliced up the defense when he drove the lane for a layup and crossed over a big man before sinking an open jumper. Okorie played only one year at Stanford before the Pistons drafted him in the first round. While the rookie certainly has a bright future, minutes could be sparse to begin his career.

Cade looked like his usual self as the primary creator of the offense. It is important to note the nine assists to the five turnovers he had. Detroit lost some ball handling this summer which will put even more responsibility on Cade. It would not be a shock if he leads the league in turnovers this year because he’s the only starter that can handle the ball.

Jalen Duren’s first game since getting his new contract was a loud one. He was aggressive in scoring the ball and looked like he was in regular season form. With Tobias Harris leaving, Jalen Duren will need to be a more consistent scorer this season if the Pistons are going to win as much as they want to.

It’s challenging to draw any firm conclusions as the Pistons were without both Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren in this exhibition contest. Jenkins stepped into the starting lineup in place of Cunningham and knocked down 3-of-5 shots from three-point range while also dishing out four assists. He’ll remain on the waiver wire in most fantasy leagues at the outset of the season, but he showed last year that he can be an impactful fantasy contributor if Cunningham were to miss significant time due to injury. His main competitor for rotation minutes, first-rounder Ebuka Okorie, scored 14 points in 26 minutes off the bench in this one.

Thompson was unable to capitalize on his opportunity to play a larger role in Detroit’s offense with both Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren sitting out this latest exhibition contest. He hit just one of his seven field goals, but did a little bit of everything to fill out the rest of the fantasy-relevant categories. He finished as a top-100 fantasy contributor by averaging 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.0 steals and 0.9 blocks per-game last year. He’s positioned to take another step forward as a key component of Detroit’s core and will be a top-50 range selection in most fantasy drafts this fall.

Cunningham was at the controls for Detroit as they kicked off their exhibition slate with nearly every key piece of their rotation, with the exception of center Jalen Duren, who recently signed a five-year, $200 million contract following a tumultuous offseason that came on the heels of a disappointing playoff performance. There are legitimate questions about whether Detroit’s decision not to add any secondary scoring or playmaking help for Cunningham this offseason will eventually backfire. However, it virtually guarantees that he’ll be in line for another high-volume offensive season. Cunningham should be a borderline first-round pick in all upcoming fantasy drafts.

This certainly felt like a bit of a showcase for Holland as he played a team-high 23 minutes off the bench, with 11 of those coming with Detroit’s main rotation in the first half alone. Amazingly, he led the team with 10 shot attempts in the opening half, but went just 1-of-4 from long range. The positive news is that he piled up an astounding five steals and also recorded a pair of blocks. The 21-year-old former lottery pick is a tantalizing talent that has shown flashes of big-time potential, but he remains a bit of a work in progress. It’ll be challenging for him to wrestle minutes away from offseason import John Collins, but he’s in line to play a big role for Detroit off the bench this season.

The standoff between Duren and the Pistons has finally ended, with the 6-foot-10 center receiving a fully guaranteed deal worth $40 million per year. Although Duren had the best regular season of his career to date and earned All-NBA honors, his postseason struggles factored into Detroit needing seven games to eliminate Orlando before falling to Cleveland in the second round. Thursday’s agreement comes less than two hours before the deadline for Duren to accept the one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer that would have made him an unrestricted free agent next summer. With his immediate future in Detroit now secure, Duren offers third-round potential in standard fantasy leagues. The question is whether this saga will affect his performance, especially early in the season.

Thompson averaged a career-high 26 minutes last season, but his coach said the expectation will be for more minutes this season. How many more minutes is unclear, but we can expect the 23-year-old Thompson to be more of a full-time player this year. That’s a boost to Thompson’s fantasy value as he comes off the board in the eighth-round of fantasy drafts.

Duren is still embroiled in contract negotiations after turning down a $200 million deal from Detroit, and he could be headed toward signing a $9.6 million qualifying offer. The deadline to sign the qualifying offer is Thursday, and if Duren pursues that option, he would become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Sacramento has been linked to Duren as a team that would potentially pay him what he wants, but he could entertain offers from other suitors. John Collins is an interesting later-round flier in standard leagues, and Paul Reed makes a fine pick in deeper leagues.