The Detroit Pistons have sent rookie Ebuka Okorie to the G-League after he failed to crack the rotation over the first 10 games.
This isn’t a reflection on Okorie, who has been exciting in his limited action, but there just aren’t minutes for him right now with Daniss Jenkins, Kevin Huerter and others playing well.
I thought now would have been a good time to get Okorie some spot run, as the Pistons are down a guard with Isaiah Joe still on the injured list.
The Pistons felt otherwise, so Okorie will head to the G-League for a game or two, though I am sure he won’t be there for long.
Okorie will likely dominate the G-League, as guards with handles who can get to the rim usually do, so expect him to have a couple of monster games for the Cruise that will only rile up his fans even more.
If you had told me before the season that Okorie would spend much of it in the G-League, I would have agreed, as it’s tough for any rookie to make the rotation of a playoff team with title aspirations.
But the timing of it is odd, especially with today’s injury announcements.
Pistons injuries: Still no movement on Isaiah Joe or Jalen Duren
We’ve talked a lot about Jalen Duren and have even gotten our first “two more weeks” injury update, with Duren resuming basketball activities earlier this week.
But we’ve heard next to nothing about Isaiah Joe, who has been out since he crashed down hard on his hip on a dunk attempt. There hasn’t been an update on Joe except to say he has a hip contusion, which is somewhat odd given that he’s been out since the third game of the season.
Joe will be out again in tonight's game against the Wizards.
The Pistons have gotten poor returns on their offseason additions thus far, as John Collins has been up and down and Joe has barely played, so we really haven’t seen this team at full strength with everyone playing well, which is somewhat exciting, as it means the best is yet to come for Detroit.
The injuries have also given the Pistons opportunities to experiment with small-ball lineups and have given guys like Kevin Huerter and Daniss Jenkins a chance to log a few extra minutes per game, which has helped them get into a rhythm.
Those who were hoping to see rookie Ebuka Okorie play in the next few games are probably going to have to wait, but it does say a lot about the Pistons, who have enough depth that a player of Okorie’s skill can’t get into the rotation.
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