When the Detroit Pistons drafted Ebuka Okorie, they took a swing on his potential. And in Summer League, he showed off that potential. He looked very comfortable driving to the rim and creating offense, and if the three-point shot makes it to the NBA level, he could be exactly what Cade Cunningham needs.
Detroit didn’t do much this summer. The Pistons needed to find Cunningham some help in the shot creation department, but they didn’t really do that. However, Okorie is a dart. If he hits, then maybe the Pistons did actually solve some of their offensive creation issues. He could blossom into a nice co-star for Cunningham in the Pistons’ backcourt.
Though Okorie is more of a point guard than a shooting guard, if he and Cunningham can hold up on the defensive end, there’s no reason they couldn’t play together at some point down the line.
Ebuka Okorie can really help Cade Cunningham
In Las Vegas, Okorie got the chance to show off exactly why the Pistons drafted him. He was an offensive initiator at Stanford as a freshman last year, and that’s exactly what he was for the Pistons in Summer League.
As discussed by the Game Theory podcast in a recent episode, Okorie was unstoppable when it came to getting downhill and creating paint touches – one of the most crucial skills at the NBA level.
On top of that, he showed some solid defensive potential, acting as a pest at the point of attack. The one thing that didn’t pop for Okorie was his three-point shot.
But even that can come around. He shot the ball well in college, so there’s plenty of reason to believe that he can do the same once he starts playing at the NBA level.
In Okorie’s five games of Summer League action, he played 30.3 minutes per game. He avergaged 18.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 2.4 steals. However, he shot just 35.6% from the field and 17.4% from deep.
The efficiency needs to come around in a big way, but he has time to fix that. And the fact that he’s already so great at getting downhill is an awesome place to start.
If Okorie can provide the Pistons with some offensive creation and grow into his game at the NBA level, then there’s no reason to think he can’t be a huge help to Cunningham down the line.
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