The Detroit Pistons received more good news, as Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart have been named to the USA Basketball Select team. Their main job is to practice against the Olympic team, which includes Jerami Grant.
Call it the ‘Summer of Positive Pistons News’.
Coming off impressive rookie campaigns, Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart and forward Saddiq Bey have been named to the USA Select men’s basketball team.
Pistons general manager Troy Weaver and coach Dwane Casey had emphasized they wanted their young players to get in a lot of hard work over the summer. Can not get better than this.
The chief job of the Select team, will be to work daily with the USA Olympic team at its training camp in Las Vegas from July 6-9. Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra will coach the Select team.
Bey and Stewart will be familiar with one of the Olympians, as fellow Piston’ Grant is on Team USA.
Not too shabby for two players who were not even lottery picks in the 2020 NBA Draft. Stewart was taken at No. 16 overall while Bey was selected at No. 19.
While Stewart and Bey had impressed Pistons fans as they developed during the season, their being picked for the Select team validates that others as well see them as up-and-coming players in the NBA.
The Select team is composed of 17 players, 13 young players and four who recently competed for Team USA in qualifying tournaments. 2020 No. 1 draft pick Anthony Edwards, Tyler Herro of the Heat, Michigan State grad Miles Bridges of the Hornets and high-scoring guard Darius Garland of the Cavaliers are among the others named.
Seven players who are on this year’s Olympic team had previously been on the Select.
Stewart, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound center, averaged 7.9 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 68 games for Detroit, with 14 starts. He was a second team NBA All-Rookie selection.
Bey was named to the All-Rookie first team, as he set an NBA record for three-pointers by a rookie without a miss (7). The 6-foot-6 Villanova product averaged 12.2 points and 4.5 rbounds with 53 starts.
The first reaction to this is: Wow. Three players from a 20-52 team have been asked to play for USA Basketball.
This can only be a positive for Stewart, Bey and the Pistons. They both will get high-level coaching in an organized environment, and be able to practice against some of the top players in the game, like Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard.