Almost two months after the Detroit Pistons season came to an end, it’s almost time to start looking ahead to the Orlando Summer League roster.
The roster that carried the Detroit Pistons to an Orlando Summer League championship game berth is about to undergo an overhaul. A season ago Stanley Johnson (while hampered with developmental instructions and the integration of a re-worked jump shot) led the Pistons squad along with Lorenzo Brown who would later make a run at the team’s third point guard spot in the preseason.
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This season, while Johnson was willing to suit up for the third straight summer (and will practice with the team in Orlando leading up to their first game on July 1st), his services won’t be required by the organization.
Last year’s first round pick Henry Ellenson will return for his second summer league stint, as will second-rounder Michael Gbinije. Last summer Gbinije only appeared in the opener, playing 33 minutes and scoring 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting. He sprained his ankle and was held out for the rest of the tournament which allowed Brown to put on a show.
Assuming the Pistons keep their 12th pick, whoever that player turns out to be will also join the summer league team. Darrun Hilliard may also join the team after missing last season’s summer league with a stress fracture in his back suffered while training, but that’s contingent on whether the Pistons release him before July 1st when his contract for 2017-18 becomes fully guaranteed.
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The Detroit Pistons’ summer league schedule is as follows (per Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press):
July 1st 5 p.m. vs the Oklahoma City Thunder
July 2nd 1 p.m. vs the New York Knicks
July 4th 5 p.m. vs the Miami Heat
July 5th 3 p.m. vs the Charlotte Hornets