Detroit Bad Boys

Back in 2018, Luka Dončić was breaking onto the scene for the Dallas Mavericks as a future superstar. This left the Mavericks’ first-round pick the year prior, Dennis Smith Jr, the odd man out. Smith went from point guard of the future to backup in Dallas to disappointment in New York to trade throw in

Bryce Hendricks, who is also host of the Upside Swings Podcast, joined Motor City Hoops to continue to look ahead to the 2021-2022 Detroit Pistons season. We use what we saw from the Summer League to look ahead at what we might see from players during the regular season AND what it tells us about

DJ Bakker, a longtime player development coach under Dwane Casey in both Toronto and Detroit, has been named the head coach of the Motor City Cruise, the team announced Tuesday. “DJ brings tremendous basketball knowledge and has had great success working with players at all levels,” said Rob Murphy, president and general manager for the

A guy who has flown a little under the radar this offseason after a solid showing in his rookie year is Saben Lee. I suppose this is understandable when you are in the same draft class as Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart and play the same position as Cade Cunningham and Killian Hayes, and the

Balša Koprivica, the 7-foot big man out of Florida State, signed a three-year deal with KK Partizan in Serbia. Koprivicia was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the 57th overall pick in the NBA Draft, but didn’t have a route to a roster spot or a two-way contract with the Pistons. By signing with Partizan,

Eli Bashi joins the Motor City Hoops Podcast for ep. 46. Eli was born and raised in metro Detroit and has been a lifelong fan and supporter of the Detroit Pistons (and all Detroit teams) while also being a contributor at PistonPowered. I start off the episode by getting Eli’s thoughts and opinions on the

The Detroit Pistons released their season schedule on Friday, and now we know that Cade Cunningham will suit up for his first professional game at Little Caesars Arena on Oct. 20 as his Pistons take on the Chicago Bulls. That checks off one of the biggest boxes of any schedule release. The next most interesting

With the recent news that Jamorko Pickett got an Exhibit 10 contract from the Detroit Pistons, it is a good time to take a deep dive into his game and examine why the team wants to invest in him and try to bring him to the Cruise for this upcoming G-League season. So far, he

Restricted free agent Hamidou Diallo has agreed to return to the Detroit Pistons on a two-year, $10.4 million deal, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. When the Pistons traded for Diallo, it was unclear what kind of deal Diallo would command, with the higher end of prognostications being in the $10 million dollar range. Instead,

Anthony Tarke was this year’s mystery man on the Detroit Pistons Summer League roster. Even now, after the team has played all its games, I imagine many are wondering what exactly Tarke brings to the table and why the Pistons felt the need to sweep him up as an undrafted free agent. It’s also worth

David Aldridge (The Athletic) joins the Motor City Hoops Podcast (@motorcityhoops) for his second time to talk about the Detroit Pistons. We start off this episode talking about the Washington, D.C. connections within this Pistons organization (Troy Weaver, Jerami Grant, Luka Garza, etc.) which David, a mainstay in DC basketball circles, is obviously familiar with.

Despite being the third player selected by the Detroit Pistons in last year’s draft, Saddiq Bey was the first one to make a significant impact for the franchise. His long gun and reliable defense enabled him to quickly earn significant minutes and before too long a spot in the starting lineup. He played his role

The Detroit Pistons are signing Summer League standout Jamorko Pickett to an Exhibit 10 contract that will see him suit up with the team for training camp, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac. The deal was alluded to during Detroit’s Summer League finale against the Orlando Magic and Smith seems to confirm it. An Exhibit

Despite Summer League being a poor indicator of future success (anyone remember Henry Ellenson’s dominant performances in Orlando?), it’s natural to look at the top NBA draft picks from 2021 and compare their performances against No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham. It’s also easy to start wondering whether the Detroit Pistons got it wrong when they

Not often is one of the more polarizing players in a draft a prospect that ends up drafted in teh 50s, but Luka Garza fit that description. After a dominating career at Iowa, many questioned whether Garza’s style of basketball would translate to the NBA. It seemed that immediately following his selection at No. 52

The Detroit Pistons are wrapping up Summer League action, but you will not see many of the familiar faces you’re used to with the team opting to sit Cade Cunningham, Saddiq Bey and Killian Hayes from the starting lineup, and it’s unclear who is actually going to get off the bench for Detroit. I’m sure

Luka Garza might have been the national player of the year in college basketball as a senior at Iowa, but his road to the NBA was always going to be a difficult one. But if there’s one thing Garza has shown in his brief time since being drafted No. 52 overall by the Detroit Pistons,

The rivalry between Cade Cunningham and Jalen Green isn’t going anywhere. While much of it has been fueled by comments from one side, the two are going to be compared for the rest of their careers in a very Magic vs. Larry kind of way. But it’s really just Green pouring gas on the fire

Keith Smith, an NBA salary cap savant, and contributor at @spotrac, CelticsBlog, @FrontOfficeShow (co-host) and regular host in Spotify Greenroom joined me on the MotorCityHoops podcast to really dive into the salary cap, contracts, and “numbers” for the Detroit Pistons. Keith and I start off the episode discussing the overall state of the cap in

The Detroit Pistons will try their luck against the Los Angeles Lakers in a game that will be featured on ESPN2 at 10:00 p.m. Both teams come into the match up fresh off of a win. The Lakers have had all three of their games (2-1 overall) finish within single digits, winning two of the