The Detroit Pistons will embark on training camp tomorrow with a familiar face in the building
Just before Media Day arrives with the start of training camp tomorrow, the Detroit Pistons are putting the finishing touches on their roster, but based on all indications that will not include 22-year old All-Star Jalen Duren after his lengthy contract dispute.
With Oct. 1 serving as the current deadline, Duren has a few more days to think over his future with and without the qualifying offer, so the team will know more at that point. The Pistons do have the right to extend Duren’s qualifying offer deadline all the way to March 1, but that does not look to be in the cards for this restricted free agency process.
But outside of Duren’s situation, the Pistons are back in the Motor City with several new faces to build chemistry with. Detroit added a slew of veterans during the offseason, and they’ve also brought back Brice Williams on an Exhibit 10 deal after his strong performance during Summer League and with the Motor City Cruise last season.
As a rookie last year, Williams fit right in with the Cruise from the jump with a 27-point, 10-rebound professional debut last November. Not long after, Williams created a formal introduction for the rest of the G-League with a stellar 41-point outburst for the Motor City squad, and he served as a valuable piece of the rotation during his first year of pro hoops after attending Nebraska.
In fact, Williams was a key piece of the Cruise squad that went further in the postseason than any other team in franchise history, so his rookie campaign can be viewed in a positive light. Williams parlayed that momentum into a Summer League spot with the Pistons, and the G-Leaguer was one of the bright spots in what was a trying 1-4 stretch out in Las Vegas.
From the perimeter, both Williams and Chaz Lanier were dialed in from Summer League games two through four. Both players looked for their shot and let it fly when given a few feet of space behind the arc to give the Pistons a sense of perimeter gravity during the exhibition contests.
During that time, Steve Scalzi was heading the Pistons bench after serving as an assistant coach on their NBA team the season prior, but the Motor City Cruise named Scalzi as their new head coach shortly after the Summer League stint. The Cruise’s prior coach, Jamelle McMillan, was named as an assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls ahead of the 2026-27 campaign, which opened up the spot in Motown for Scalzi.
With a background in player development, Scalzi is the right type of influence to bring the best out of Williams while he’s stationed with the Cruise. From a philosophical standpoint, Scalzi relies heavily on constraints-led approaches, so he’s used to creating practice scenarios that hinge on hyper-specific in-game circumstances to make players more comfortable in common gameplay situations. With that type of vision, Williams should be utilized in a fashion that showcases his long-range shooting and ability to move without the basketball when hunting down those shots.
