LAS VEGAS — The Detroit Pistons are much more athletic than they were a month ago. That was clear Thursday night at the Summer League opener in the high desert, when the team’s two lottery picks made their debuts.
It took less than 15 seconds for Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren to show what the future could look like – soon.
Ivey, a 6-foot-4 combo guard and the team’s No. 5 draft pick, took a pass as he wrapped around the elbow and rushed down the lane. Duren, meanwhile, cut to the edge from the right baseline. He nodded at Ivey. Ivey gave him the ball, a soft throw over the edge, and Duren exploded to catch it and he dunked it.
Not bad for a few players who hadn’t spent time together on the training ground; the trade to acquire Duren on draft night was not officially sanctioned by the league until earlier in the day.
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But then, with Ivey’s speed and Duren’s power…and speed, explosiveness and height (he’s listed at 6-11), who needs to practice a lob?
“He’s got good feet,” Ivey said of his teammate. “He moves well. Every time I get the chance to lob a lob, he’s going to make a play.”
There’s a wide catching radius and then there’s what Duren showed in 11 minutes and 56 seconds of play in Thursday’s 81-78 win over the Trail Blazers – his minutes were limited due to a lack of training time. Pistons coach Dwane Casey compared Duren to former All-Star Shawn Kemp during the rookie introductory press conference two weeks ago.
And while it’s a great line-up, watching Duren climb to the top of the backboard spot to suck up lob passes on his Summer League debut makes Casey’s statement – hope? – more plausible.
“His athleticism is next level,” said Jordan Brink, the Pistons’ Summer League coach. “We just told him to go out there and have fun. Show your athleticism, show your skills. I thought he had done a very good job. Tons of stuff to clean up, but that’s why we have practice tomorrow.
Duren is 18 years old. He was the youngest player in the draft. And even in a game in which the center position isn’t the pivot it once was, save for a few uniquely skilled outliers like Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, Duren’s debut held promise for a game-changing force.
The Boston Celtics made the NBA Finals in part thanks to Robert Williams, a 6-9 shot blocker and rim protector who anchored the league’s best defense in the final half of the season. Duren could be similar, with more lob radius and better offensive footwork overall.
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At least he showed why Troy Weaver traded him on draft night. The Pistons general manager loves athleticism. It worked for the last franchise he helped build in Oklahoma City.
Now he has work. He is raw. But there is also know-how. Not just eye-catching gifts, but real basketball skills.
Duren showed decent touch on a turnover, kicked an open shooter, tried to land a rebound pass to a teammate he thought was about to cut the gate. His teammate no. Duren’s pass went out of bounds.
Yet he saw the angle open. More telling is that he anticipated the possibility.
These are instincts that Casey and his team can work with. Just like they can work with Ivey’s otherworldly explosion.
He too has a lot to do. And he’ll have plenty of nights this season that feel like his debut, where he opens the throttle and nearly pulls G-force his way into the lane and finds himself with no good place to go.
Or on the floor, watching the ball he just lost roll. Young players with such gifts need time to figure out what to do with them.
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And as Ivey said after the game, he hasn’t played much basketball in his life where he just couldn’t pass whoever he wanted. As quick as it is, the full-out won’t always work in the NBA. His advantage in speed and explosiveness is not on the same margin as at Purdue.
Still, he will have many moments when even the best players in the league have no chance of sticking with him. He showed those moments on Thursday, particularly in the second half, when he slowed down and started to feel the speed and pace of the game and hit the afterburners after pacing from a point of calm.
As he did on his last bucket, late in the game, when he made a pass and took a few dribbles before dashing between defenders and sliding to the edge for the dagger lay-up. He jumped onto the pitch, veering to the edge of the pitch to dapper Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey, who are here to train with the rookies and build chemistry.
“My work was trying to slow down,” Ivey said. “Once I got into a rhythm, the game opened up.”
Ivey scored 20 points on 14 shots and made his free throws in the clutch. He was more excited about his six assists. Many of them came after he rushed into the lane and tossed the ball to his shooters.
“I was looking for teammates,” he said, “that’s the best feeling.”
That’s where Ivey will live as a rookie when he’s at his best: painting. Either to finish – he had a few smooth finishes against Portland – or to find his guys.
Speed does that. Controlling and using that speed to manipulate the terrain will do even more.
“In college, I would go 100 percent fast all the time,” he said. “In this league, you have to change gears.”
It will take time to get there. As will Duren. But the two had the kind of moments that justified the buzz generated by their arrival on draft night.
They are young. And they are talented. And although it’s only Summer League, the season can’t come soon enough.
Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.
