Competition for the third string point guard position just picked up as the Detroit Pistons sign former Detroit Mercy stand out, Ray McCallum Jr.
Ray McCallum, a familiar face in the Detroit area after leading Birmingham Detroit Country Day to a Michigan High School state title and then playing his collegiate ball at the University of Detroit Mercy, was the 36th pick in the 2013 NBA draft. One pick before the Detroit Pistons selected Tony Mitchell.
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The fans of Detroit had their hearts set on bringing one of their hometown hero point guards to the Pistons. After passing on Trey Burke to select Kentavious Caldwell-Pope with the eighth pick in the draft, McCallum was their last hope. It wasn’t to be. Not in 2013, at least.
McCallum showed promise with the Kings in his short time with them. He shot a lackluster 37 percent from the field in his rookie season, yet shot the same percentage from three-point range. That’s the kind of range head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy would love to have from at least one of his point guards.
In his second season with the Kings, Mcallum’s long-range percentage dropped, but the rest of his numbers rose. In 21 minutes a game McCallum averaged 7.4 points, 2.8 assists and 2.6 rebounds while starting 30 of the 68 games he played in.
McCallum has been signed on a one-year deal, expected to be something similar to what Lorenzo Brown is on. With Van Gundy not fully committing to a third string point guard, McCallum and Brown will be battling it out for the roster spot.
Brown, coming off of a very good summer league along with a few extra months in the Detroit system would be the front-runner for the position but based on McCallum’s past, he could very well be the better option.
Brown isn’t the only one of the two to play well in summer league. In 2014 McCallum led the Sacramento Kings to the Championship game, beating the Houston Rockets and earning himself the finals MVP award with a 29 point performance. McCallum has proven many times that he’s not one to shy away from the big moment.
Even though Brown has been with the team longer and has performed well, I feel McCallum’s NBA experience should already put him above Brown. The fact that the San Antonio Spurs were willing to pick him up this past season shows that he’s got a lot of potential. That front office doesn’t just bring in anybody.
Next: Projecting the Detroit Pistons' point guard depth chart
The Pistons may have missed out on him in the 2013 NBA draft, but 2016 could see this hometown hero return to play for the city of Detroit.