Detroit — The NBA tends to covet certain types of players. The fastest and the flashiest. The prospects who jump out of the gym and off the highlight reel and capture the imagination.
It’s the same mentality that favors the hare’s speed and swagger in the fabled race against the trudging tortoise.
Pistons rookie Saben Lee has many of the intangibles that NBA scouts like, showing his scoring, speed and explosiveness in his three years at Vanderbilt. That typically translates to NBA success, but Lee wasn’t projected to make it in the NBA. Some ratings had him going undrafted.
That underdog theme has been ongoing in Lee’s journey to the NBA.
Lee, 21, resembles the hare with his speed, but a deeper look at his workmanlike approach and attitude suggests he’s more like the tortoise.
“With the tortoise and the hare, the process was faster for the rabbit and everyone thought the rabbit was going to win. The turtle just kept his head on the end goal — and he messed around and won,” Lee told The Detroit News. “That’s my mindset and how I feel like my process has been. It hasn’t been very fast; it’s been a lot of challenges and a lot of adverse scenarios. At the end of the day, you still want to prevail and be successful.”
Many draft experts raised an eyebrow when Lee was picked 38th overall by the Utah Jazz and the Pistons traded for him. Pistons general manager Troy Weaver has a way of sifting through and finding the hidden gems instead of being awed by the flash and dash.
In high school, Lee had a three-star rating and was ranked No. 105 in the nation in the class of 2017. He had the athletic pedigree — his father, Amp, is a former Florida State and NFL running back — but Saben chose basketball.
Weaver said he first saw Lee at Corona Del Sol high school in Tempe, Arizona, while he was there to see Marvin Bagley III, who was on the same team as a freshman. Bagley, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft, was a can’t-miss prospect. But even in that search, a keen eye can catch something.
“I saw (Lee) a couple of times when he was in high school. I didn’t know who he was, and I liked him,” Weaver said. “I liked him, but then when he got to Vanderbilt, you see this big class and you say this is Amp Lee’s son and you kind of gravitate and there’s something in the DNA and so I kind of watched him as a freshman with that class and was intrigued by him.”
Lee had three good seasons with Vanderbilt and has found his way to some playing time with the Pistons. He had started the season behind first-round pick Killian Hayes, along with Derrick Rose and Delon Wright. Lee is on a two-way contract and likely would have been destined to spend much of the season in the G League if not for the pandemic.
Instead, Lee finds himself in the playing rotation after Hayes’ hip injury, Rose’s trade and sheer necessity at the position. He’s made an impression since, including his coming-out party against the Orlando Magic, when he had a season-high 21 points, with three 3-pointers.
He maintains a humble personality, realizing there’s more work to do. That includes extra reps with Pistons development coach Bryston Williams after games. With the rookies missing out on the traditional summer workouts and the NBA Summer League, there’s a lot of lost time to make up.
It also reinforces a workmanlike mentality of never feeling like he’s made it, but continuing to grind. There’s something to prove every day. He maintains his edge by feeling like an underdog.
“I feel like that’s how I am — and that’s how I always am going to be,” Lee said. “I’m just going to keep that chip on my shoulder as long as I am in this league.”
From the father to the son
Growing up as the son of an athlete often comes with its inherent benefits and a few challenges. Of course, the comparisons are going to follow, along with some lofty expectations about what the son should achieve.
Amp Lee starred at Florida State and won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams in 2000. But he didn’t direct that same pressure to his son, allowing him to choose whether he wanted to play football or basketball.
“I got him in sports early. I tilted him toward basketball, but I just wanted him to find his way. He seemed to have a fire for it and I do too,” said Amp, who coaches basketball in Arizona. “It just depends on how good you want to be; you don’t set out to be a pro but figure out what you want to do. (In high school) I told him it’s a process, but yours may be a little slow in that you’re not a McDonald’s All-America.
“You’ve got to ignore some of that (scouting); it’s somebody’s opinion and not gospel. He still had a way to go and he was flying under the radar. He wasn’t top 50, not at Kentucky, not a one-and-done.
“Press clippings and rankings aren’t good for anything but grandkids and scrapbooks.”
The son said he played football and was a running back when he was in middle school, but he liked basketball more, and when it came time to make a decision, his father was happy with whatever he chose.
“He didn’t push me, but I kind of played football just for fun,” Saben said. “I was good at it, but he told me if you don’t love that sport, it’s not a sport you play for fun.”
There are the stories of parents who live vicariously through their children, and Amp had his success in football but also enjoys watching his son try to achieve his own dreams in the NBA.
In that way, it’s not overbearing to have that legacy to live by.
“I’m grateful to have a father who played professionally. Growing up, he was able to give me a whole bunch of advice, words of wisdom on things that are required to try and get to that level,” Saben said. “He would consistently tell me that I’m not competing against people (in my area). It’s not in your state or country; it’s the best people in the world who you have to compete against night in and night out.”
Amp is the one who imparted the wisdom of the tortoise and hare to Saben. Through the years of hard work and practice, it’s stuck.
“A tortoise has a hard shell and thick skin,” Amp said. “It sticks its head out every once in a while, but it stays on the move. The tortoise won the race.”
Piece of the puzzle
When Weaver started putting together his plan for the roster, he saw Lee as an undervalued asset in the draft. Weaver made trades to get two other pieces of his roster rebuild, with Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey, but getting Lee seemed to be taking a flyer on a long-term project.
Lee has continued to do the work, and it’s paying off — more quickly than most would have thought.
“As we started doing our homework, I wanted to get some foundation pieces in here, guys that could go through this, and could stand tall as we’re going through the restoring but have great DNA,” Weaver said. “He’s selfless, competitive and tough. People always say, ‘He’s a better person than he is a player. Well, he is a better person.
“He has definitely exceeded people’s expectations, but not mine. He’s a tremendous young man and a tremendous worker. … It’s just a testament to who he is as a person that he’s been able to hit the ground running.”
If the tortoise is running, he definitely has a better chance to win the race.
Pistons at Rockets
► Tipoff: 8 p.m. Friday, Toyota Center, Houston
► TV/radio: FSD/97.1
► Outlook: The Rockets (11-28) have lost 18 straight games, including 15 by double digits. That came after a string of seven wins in eight games. Former Pistons forward Christian Wood, who missed six weeks because of an ankle injury, returned with 21 points on Wednesday night.
Rod.Beard@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @detnewsRodBeard