While the main focus for fans have been the upcoming NBA Draft, followed quickly by free agency, the Las Vegas Summer League is actually less than a month away. The Detroit Pistons should have an interesting entry, and tickets already are on sale.
Once the NBA finals end, the off-season really swings into action _ and fast!
How fast? The event that usually ends all on-court activity until training camp, the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, starts July 7. You can actually buy tickets now, use this link.
If looking to take a vacation in Vegas, and catch some Pistons (and other teams) games, the NBA has an ‘Experiences’ package available. It is not up yet, but you can register for the waiting list here.
Fast NBA Las Vegas Summer League facts:
When: July 7-17, 2022
Where: Las Vegas, Nevada in two gyms on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas’ campus.
Who: All 30 NBA teams will have an entry, including the Detroit Pistons.
How: There will be round-robin play followed by playoffs, so if going toward the end, you are not guaranteed to see a particular team.
The Summer League has blossomed the past few years. First, all NBA teams are now in it. A few who did not normally form summer league teams were, um, encouraged, by the league to enter. It also gives fans a quick look at the players a team just drafted.
While in other sports, like baseball, football and ice hockey, people have to wait months to see their much-hyped draft picks in an actual game, NBA fans only have to wait a little over two weeks to see them in a real game.
Last summer, Pistons fans could see Cade Cunningham and how deserving he was to be the No. 1 pick. But the Pistons summer league also revealed players like center Luka Garza and forward Jamorko Pickett, unknown to many Pistons fans, who stood out and earned their way to contracts.
So who will be on the Detroit Pistons’ Las Vegas Summer League team?
There are certain limitations based on league service on who can be on a team’s summer league roster. Like, do not fly to Vegas, pay a lot of money, and expect to see Jerami Grant or Kelly Olynyk, sorry, they can’t be on the team.
It might even be surprising if Cade Cunningham is playing. For who, for what after all.
Whomever Detroit takes at No. 5 in the draft will be there, along with an assortment of young veterans, free agents and other draft picks.
Summer League rosters are usually a pretty fluid situation, as players seek the best opportunity to showcase themselves. Until the Pistons release their official roster, nothing is certain (except those directly under contract or just drafted by Detroit).
One never knows who could pop up. Last year, Deividas Sirvydas, after being cut by Detroit, was on the summer league team (and ended up in training camp, on its G-League roster and even played a couple of games for the Pistons when COVID-19 ravaged the roster).
Maybe one of last year’s draft picks, Balsa Koprivica, who left to play in Serbia after summer league, makes an appearance.
Summer League is always a fun experience. It’s a chance to see the young and upcoming players, in a competitive, but low-key, atmosphere. The Pistons always seem to have an interesting team, sometimes more interesting than the one they field in the winter.