First chance to see Cade! Detroit Pistons summer league schedule released

The first time fans will be able to see Cade Cunningham (or whoever they pick) in a Detroit Pistons uniform was revealed, as the NBA Summer League schedule has been announced.

All 30 NBA teams will be in Las Vegas from August 8-17 to take part in the league. Each team will play five games. Until 2019, some teams by-passed the league, but Commissioner Adam SIlver likes it as an off-season event, and ordered all teams to participate. Due to the pandemic, the league was not held last year.

All games will be televised on either NBA-TV or one of the ESPN networks, and be held on the campus of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, either in the Thomas & Mack Center or Cox Pavilion.

Here is the Detroit Pistons NBA Summer League schedule:

"August 8, 8:30 p.m. vs. Oklahoma City (ESPN2)August 10, 9 p.m. vs. Houston (ESPN)August 13, 8 p.m. vs. NY Knicks (NBA-TV)August 14, 10 p.m. vs. L.A. Lakers (ESPN2)August 16 or 17 vs. TBD (TV to be determined)"

In the past, some games have drawn big crowds, particularly for teams near the Las Vegas area. If you would like to buy tickets, go to NBAEvents.com.

Two big Pistons games

ESPN’s main network is only showing one of the 74 games being played outside of the championship game. That is the August 10th matchup between the Pistons and the Houston Rockets.

In theory, this will match up the NBA Draft’s No. 1 pick vs. No. 2. Cade Cunningham going head to head with Jalen Green would certainly be something Detroit fans would want to see. This was not by coincidence.There are no divisions or playoffs (two teams will be matched up to play for a championship) so the NBA had lots of flexibility

(As an aside, when was the last time a major TV network insisted on the Detroit Pistons being the top draw)

With all the rumors flying around before the draft that the Oklahoma City Thunder was making a push for the No. 1 pick, the Pistons opener against the Thunder will also be interesting. Basically, it could be Cade Cunningham against all the guys the Thunder wanted to trade to Detroit for him.

Who will play with Cade Cunningham on the Pistons summer team?

Whoever the Pistons select at No. 1 plus any other players drafted on July 29 will definitely be on the roster. But with Detroit having a lot of young players playing key roles on last year’s team, how many will be sent to play in Las Vegas?

Would five summer league games do anything for Saddiq Bey, who started 55 times and played and practiced with the USA Olympic team?

You can probably count center Isaiah Stewart out. He rolled his ankle practicing against the Olympic team, and was last seen in a walking boot.

But Saben Lee and Sekou Doumbouya should be there, and possibly Killian Hayes (if only for game experience).

The Pistons roster also have free agent prospects it wants to look at, either for the NBA team or its new G-League team. No matter what, this will be the most anticipated summer league for Detroit in a while..