Detroit Pistons: Taurean Prince Update, Ron Holland Contract Talks

As the NBA jumps into full swing with the regular season underway, the Detroit Pistons made a decision over the past week to continue betting on internal growth.

That has been the Pistons’ foremost strategy over the past two seasons, and it continues to be the direction that the organization is taking with Ron Holland II by electing to pick up his team option for the 2027-28 season, which would be his fourth in Detroit. 

With the Pistons picking up Holland’s rookie scale option, the G-League Ignite product is slated to collect $11.5 million a year from now, which would make him the sixth-highest paid player on Detroit’s roster. In total, the Pistons only have seven players locked down on guaranteed deals for the 2027-28 campaign since both Duncan Robinson, Isaiah Joe and John Collins have non-guaranteed years as part of their contracts, so that number could quickly balloon to 10 depending on a few front office decisions later down the line. 

So far, Holland has proven to be an aggressive on-ball defender who is capable of guarding multiple positions, but his current value is lop-sided in that direction. Over the offseason, Holland worked diligently on his outside shot, but the Pistons are still waiting to see the product of his training with shooting coach Fred Vinson. 

Reverting back to the task at hand, the Pistons have a tough Eastern Conference tilt on the docket tonight against the Miami Heat, which will serve as their first road test of the year after completing a huge 22-point comeback against the Boston Celtics on Opening Day. The Pistons only used their bench to a modest degree in that game with just six subs checking in, but the team was slightly short handed since Taurean Prince was out of the lineup due to personal reasons. 

However, Prince is back in action and could make his regular season debut for the Pistons tonight in what’s projected to be a very physical battle against a Heat squad that can defend and crash the glass. In their first game with both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo in the lineup, the Heat lost by 25 points to the Minnesota Timberwolves, so there are still some growing pains to endure in South Beach at this early juncture of the season. But with Prince back in the mix, the Pistons should be at full strength for the first time this season. 

One question that still lingers in the air centers around Pistons rookie point guard Ebuka Okorie, who sat on the bench for Detroit’s entire double-digit comeback against the Celtics. Though Okorie had a productive, strong preseason campaign, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff typically takes his time to work rookies into the lineup, so Tuesday afternoon’s DNP should not appear as a red flag just yet. Detroit still has 81 more games on the schedule, and Cade Cunningham will need a break at some point, which means Okorie’s time will come.