Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren getting huge opportunity

The Detroit Pistons have made some nice offseason additions including coach Monty Williams, draft picks Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser and veterans Joe Harris and Monte Morris. But none of them will be bigger then getting Cade Cunningham back from injury.

Losing Cunningham after only 12 games put a huge cloud over this past season and was the primary reason the team only won 17 games.

His return should help everyone, especially Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, who will benefit from Cunningham’s playmaking and gravity.

The Detroit Pistons are counting on big leaps from these players, who are the foundation of their rebuild, but let’s be serious, this team is going to go as Cade goes, and there is every reason to expect him to have a monster season, especially after the opportunities he is getting this summer.

Detroit Pistons: Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren getting huge opportunity

Both Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren were named to the USA Select Team, which will scrimmage against the national team that will compete in the World Cup.

These players will also potentially act as stand-ins if there are any injuries. The US are heavy favorites to win the event, but the USA Select Team is pretty good in its own right, with a nice mixture of young players and veterans, including ex- Piston Langston Galloway:

• Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons)
• Jalen Duren (Detroit Pistons)
• Langston Galloway (Free Agent)
• Jalen Green (Houston Rockets)
• Quentin Grimes (New York Knicks)
• Chet Holmgren (Oklahoma City Thunder)
• John Jenkins (G League Ignite)
• Herbert Jones (New Orleans Pelicans)
• Eric Mika (G League Ignite)
• Trey Murphy III (New Orleans Pelicans)
• Keegan Murray (Sacramento Kings)
• Payton Pritchard (Boston Celtics)
• Naz Reid (Minnesota Timberwolves)
• Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder)

This shows the depth of talent the US currently has, as this is a pretty good squad that should give Team USA a run for their money in scrimmages.

Even if Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren don’t end up on the USA roster, this is a great opportunity for them to practice and scrimmage with and against some of the best players and coaches in the world.

Players can put in time in the gym and weight room but nothing can match the benefit of playing competitive games against the best in the world. We’ve seen young players in the past make big leaps after playing in international competition. These two young Pistons are just on the select team but will be going up against the likes of Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Haliburton, Anthony Edwards, Brandon Ingram, Mikal Bridges, Austin Reaves, Josh Hart,Paolo Banchero, Cameron Johnson, Jaren Jackson Jr., Walker Kessler and Bobby Portis.

Iron sharpens iron and the USA Select players will be out to prove that they should have been chosen for the full-time roster. These scrimmages should probably be televised, as there are some great matchups here pitting Cade Cunningham against guys like Anthony Edwards and Jalen Brunson and who doesn’t want to see Herb Jones try to lock down teammate Brandon Ingram?

This experience should be great for the development of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren and I expect monster seasons next year from both of them.