EAST LANSING– The Detroit Pistons and Phoenix Suns played in a preseason neutral site at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University.
This was made possible by Pistons owner Tom Gores and Suns owner Mat Ishbia both being Michigan State alumni.
“This felt like a Big Ten matchup,” said Pistons and former Purdue guard Jaden Ivey.
Coming off a rough 2023-24 season, where the Pistons’ inexperience showed, placing last in the eastern conference with only 14 regular season wins.
The Pistons are in a rebuilding phase as a franchise with many key players that are still young enough to be suiting up for Tom Izzo and the Spartans. Last season, the Michigan State Spartans’ starting five was older than the Detroit Pistons starting five.
Due to the Pistons sustained losses over the past five seasons, Detroit has acquired young talent through the NBA draft, picking in the top five for the past four drafts.
19-year-old Pistons rookie Ron Holland, who was picked fifth overall in this year’s draft, skipped the college experience to play for the G-League Ignite after decommiting from Texas. Many lottery-caliber prospects have elected to follow this path to play against professional talent.
Holland comes into the league as a very raw prospect, he has the athleticism to get to the basket but still needs to refine the intricacies of his game.
“He’ll continue to develop and get better, but he’s a winner, he’s a competitor, he isn’t afraid,” said Piston head coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
While the score of the game was out of hand in the fourth quarter, Holland took over the Pistons offense, scoring ten points.
20-year-old Pistons center Jalen Duren enters his third season after averaging a double-double in his sophomore campaign. The big man played a year of college hoops at Memphis before getting drafted by the Pistons in 2022.
Due to the situation in Detroit, Duren has had the opportunity to learn on the fly, as the seven-footer has played in 128 games before turning the legal drinking age.
Duren led the team with 17 points in 19 minutes while bringing the crowd to their feet multiple times with some thunderous putback dunks.
21-year-old Pistons second-year forward Ausaur Thompson, also took an alternate route to the NBA, playing for Overtime Elite with his twin brother Amen. Despite not going to college, it worked out for the duo, both getting drafted in the top five in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Thompson would fit in perfectly with the Spartans as he is an athletic wing that plays hard on both ends but…has a jump shot that is still a work in progress.
Thompson has been on the sideline with blood clots since March, he still needs to be cleared by the NBA and NBAPA but has begun non-contact drills.
For such a young team to go up against a veteran team like the Suns led by all-stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker gives the unproven Pistons a chance to gain respect.
‘If you are a young person or young team in this league, the only way you earn that respect is by playing at a high level,” Bickerstaff said.
