In the blink of an eye, Detroit Pistons basketball is back —kind of.
Detroit, like the majority of the NBA, will head west this week to begin Las Vegas Summer League play. The Pistons’ roster will feature some intriguing players, some with more to prove than others. Second-year guard Marcus Sasser and rookies Ron Holland and Bobi Klintman will be the names to watch. Per league and team sources, promising second-year wing Ausar Thompson isn’t scheduled to participate. Thompson’s season ended in March after he was diagnosed with a blood clot. I get the sense that Detroit is playing it safe with Thompson in preparation for him being ready for training camp. I’ve heard the 21-year-old has recovered very well following the diagnosis.
Ready to work in Vegas pic.twitter.com/0npzf35ZZk
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) June 29, 2024
Not only is this summer-league stint an opportunity for a few players to acclimate themselves to the schemes and principles of new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and his staff, but it also could be viewed as an audition. For some, Las Vegas presents an opportunity to leave a good first impression leading into the NBA’s dead period.
Here’s what I’ll be focusing on from the three key players who will play for Detroit.
Marcus Sasser
Can he dominate and/or give a good first impression to his new bosses?
Last year, the 6-foot-1 guard and 2023 first-round pick had a fairly normal rookie season with the Pistons, full of both highs and lows. Sasser’s 3-point shooting translated with no problem, and there was even a significant stretch where he was on pace to join the 50/40/90 club before he collided with the rookie wall in the middle months of the season. Former head coach Monty Williams tried to push Sasser into more of a lead guard role, and while that came with some challenges for Sasser, I thought he started to find his footing and confidence again toward the end of the season.
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Sasser is someone I think very highly of. My eyes and gut tell me he’s going to have a long career as a bucket-getting bench scorer, despite his size. It doesn’t matter what I think, though. What does Detroit’s new president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon think? That’s what matters.
While Sasser’s in a “point guard body,” he is more of a shooting guard. He’ll make his living in this league putting the ball in the basket. With that said, the Pistons have spent the offseason so far adding the likes of Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley, creating an interesting dynamic to a backcourt group that already had Sasser and Jaden Ivey. As of now, the Pistons don’t have a “traditional” backup point guard behind Cade Cunningham, but they still have, potentially, $26 million in cap space to play with and address that hole if they so choose. It’s possible that the plan as of now is to give the backup lead guard minutes to one of Sasser or Ivey, as it’s hard to envision either Hardaway or Beasley not being a lock for Bickerstaff’s rotation.
In Las Vegas, Sasser will have the opportunity to prove why there should be rotation minutes for him when next season comes around. Ivey is the more heralded prospect of the two, as he was the No. 5 pick two years ago, and is better at attacking the rim, but Sasser is the better shooter and defender right now. While both need to improve as decision-makers, I don’t think one is ahead of the other in that facet.
Langdon said he would value shooting this offseason and has already put his money where his mouth is with some of the new acquisitions. Sasser certainly has qualities that Langdon will value. Now, it’s up to Sasser to show it.
Ron Holland
Can he have an Ausar Thompson-type summer league?
Remember a year ago when Thompson was filling the stat sheet in Las Vegas? In four games, he averaged 14 points, 10 rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks. I want to see a similar stat-stuffing performance from Holland.
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I don’t care about the shooting right now. Holland wasn’t selected because he’s expected to immediately rip nets from distance. If he makes 3s in Las Vegas, great. That’s an encouraging sign. However, Holland has been billed as someone who competes every possession, someone who isn’t afraid to defend or rebound. He doesn’t have to exceed Thompson’s stat line for me to walk away feeling encouraged about his potential impact right away, but he’s definitely got to do a decent amount of everything.
This isn’t some wild expectation, either. During the G League season, Holland averaged over 19 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals per game. He has already shown the ability to have his imprint on a basketball game in various ways. Holland, too, already has experience playing against grown men. Once those initial nerves are out of the way, none of this should be overwhelming for this year’s No. 5 pick.
Officially a Piston pic.twitter.com/YIjnCiwUJq
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) July 6, 2024
If Holland is able to defend at a high level and do some of the dirty work from the wing position, I could see a world where he gets minutes next season. The Pistons are currently short on good defenders across all positions. Coaches tend to find minutes for players who can have an imposing presence in one way or another, regardless if they are a rookie.
Bobi Klintman
Can he defend?
Unlike Holland, I have no concern if the 6-foot-9 Klintman will be able to shoot the 3-ball at a decent-to-good clip in Las Vegas. The product of Sweden hit close to 37 percent of his 3s during his lone season at Wake Forest and transferred similar numbers overseas where he knocked down close to 36 percent of his 3s as a pro in Australia. There is some legit offensive upside with Klintman, and while he’s a pretty raw prospect right now — most notably his lack of comfortability with the ball in his hands in the half court and struggles finishing around the rim because of his lack of strength and explosiveness — I’m expecting to see flashes here and there of what he could potentially become.
Defensively, I have no idea what to expect. Klintman is tall with a long wingspan, so you would expect him to be at least a disruptive defender. However, that hasn’t always been the case in his basketball journey to date. He had moments where his size and light feet provided some real hope as to what he could be as a defender. Then there were times where his technique was very poor and he struggled to stay in front of quicker guards.
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In the long term, Klintman may be fine defending threes and fours, but this is the NBA; if other teams don’t think you can guard a smaller player, they’ll make you guard smaller, quicker players. I’m curious to see how Klintman does in Las Vegas in those instances.
(Photo of Sasser: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
