The time may finally come this season when the Detroit Pistons dig into their G-League for reinforcements.
Detroit has failed to develop a single player on a G-League or two-way contract, which is inexplicable considering the number of developmental minutes they've had available over the last three plus seasons.
Given their struggles this year, it's surprising we haven't seen more of the two-way guys, who are all having good seasons for the Motor City Cruise.
But last night it was Buddy Boeheim's night, as the nepo-baby scored a career-high 35 points, hitting nine of his 15 attempts from long range:
Buddy Boeheim was AUTOMATIC from deep today! The @MotorCityCruise guard set new career highs in scoring and made threes in an awesome showing. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/UVM2kA2VTD
— NBA G League (@nbagleague) January 15, 2024
We all know Boeheim can occasionally get hot from long range, but he's been less streaky so far this season, hitting over 49 percent of his 6.6 attempts per game from 3-point range.
Will this performance get him a look with the Detroit Pistons?
Will the Detroit Pistons use their G-League this season?
It would be nice to see Stanley Umude, Jared Rhoden and Malcolm Cazalon (the three 2-way players) get some minutes later in the season and I'm sure we will.
The two players the Pistons just traded for (Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala) could be bought out, which would leave Detroit some extra spots on the bench.
Will that be enough to get a callup for Buddy Boeheim? As good as his shooting has been, Boeheim still can't defend anyone, so he'll have to show that he's more than a traffic cone on defense before he will get a shot in the NBA, regardless of how well he shoots.
But we've seen players like Duncan Robinson emerge from the same mold, playing just enough team defense to stay on the floor long enough to hit shots.
It's more likely we see some Umude minutes, as he too has been lights out from 3-point range, knocking down over 51 percent while attempting more than eight per game.
With some extra roster space potentially opening up, and a bad team desperate for shooting, this could finally be the year when the Detroit Pistons get something from their G-League affiliate.