Detroit Pistons giving preview of upcoming season
2. Yes, No, Maybe on Cook and Sirvydis?
In any professional sport, when a team cuts you, that probably means they are not that interested. But, apparently, that is not true with the Detroit Pistons.
Deividas Sirvydis and Tyler Cook were both cut by the Pistons on July 31. This happened right before the NBA free agency, but Sirvydis’ $1.5 million salary for next year was already guaranteed, so Detroit gained no salary cap space by releasing him.
After being cut, both Cook and Sirvydis will be playing for the Pistons in the summer league. Why? Maybe Detroit is being nice and giving them some exposure. Detroit still has a two-way slot open, maybe they are candidates for that.
Cook was a solid substitute for the Pistons at the end of last season. Having him as a 15th man on the roster would not be a horrible idea.
Whatever the reason, do not be surprised when you see two players, just released, playing for the Pistons.
No.1: Cade is playing! Who cares about anything else
What many fans have been waiting for so long will finally occur: Cade Cunningham playing in a Detroit Pistons uniform.
The No.1 pick will have some future on-court friends with him in Vegas.
Killian Hayes, the No. 7 overall pick in last year’s draft, will be there in action. How he plays with Cunningham will be looked at closely. Saddiq Bey, fresh off a stint with the USA Select team (and temporarily the Olympic team) will also be playing.
Sekou Doumbouya, the No. 15 overall pick in 2019, will be there as well, looking for his first full summer league experience. In 2019, he only played a couple of games before suffering an injury and the 2020 summer league was canceled due to the pandemic.
So Cunningham is not just playing with a bunch of fringe players and rookies. This will help him get to know some of his teammates.
Oh, and circle August 10 at 9 p.m., the only regular summer league game ESPN is showing. Detroit vs. Houston, so Cunningham goes head-to-head with Jalen Green, who was vocal in saying he should have been the No. 1 pick.
Fun, fun, fun for Pistons fans. Detroit will be one of the favorites to win it all. Yeah, it is just summer league, but when you’re a ‘restoring’ franchise, you have to start somewhere.