The Detroit Pistons want to build a franchise that wins consistently and has a sustainable influx of talent.
That starts with drafting well, but just as important is development, as we’ve seen teams like the Toronto Raptors keep churning out good players even though they aren’t often at the top of the draft.
Teams like Toronto have been able to use their G-League to develop players that eventually became NBA stars.
The Detroit Pistons are hoping to do the same with the Motor City Cruise, who have been dominant in the G-League this season and feature a number of players who have already made an impact for the Pistons and more who could in the future.
Motor City Cruise could produce impact players for the Detroit Pistons
The Motor City Cruise have the best record in the entire G-League at 7-1, and have a bunch of guys who could end up playing impact roles in the future for the Detroit Pistons.
We’ve already seen guys like Saben Lee and Luka Garza bounce back and forth from the Cruise to the Pistons and both have played well at times for the parent team. Derrick Walton and Cassius Stanley had nice stints when their numbers were called by the Detroit Pistons and there could be more on the way.
Deividas Sirvydis has strung together some great games scoring the ball in the Cruise’s recent four-game win streak and Chris Smith is starting to make his presence felt after missing most of the season trying to come back from an injury he suffered late in his career at UCLA.
Many believe Smith has first-round talent and the 6-foot-9 forward has flashed some tantalizing skills so far in the four games he’s appeared in as he gets his legs under him.
CHRIS SMITH IS FILTHY 🤧@SCS599 | #StartYourEngines pic.twitter.com/hwDVbqX7IE
— Motor City Cruise (@MotorCityCruise) January 23, 2022
Jamarko Pickett has played well for the Cruise and looks like a possible future player for the Pistons, and Isaiah Livers won’t be far behind once he starts playing bigger minutes.
The Detroit Pistons are never going to be a top free-agent destination and one way to offset that disadvantage is by having a steady steam of talent coming out of your own system.
The talent level in the NBA has never been higher across the board, and there are more and more guys coming out of the G-League who can actually play. It will become a weapon for the teams that do a good job and there are signs that the Pistons are soon to be one of them.