Its the Dog Days of Summer | The Palace of Pistons Weekly Drive
News is quiet, as we've hit the last few weeks of summer prior to training camp.
Good morning Pistons fans, and welcome back to the Weekly Drive. We’re in the dog days of summer, that quiet period between Summer League and the start of training camp where the transactions crawl and players start wrapping up their vacations and holidays. And, like the arid summer heat, Pistons news is pretty bare right now.
J.B. Bicker-staff Building
Many of the coaches from new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff’s Cleveland crew have made their way to Detroit (aside from Greg Buckner, who joined Doc Rivers in Milwaukee). We can add another to the Pistons, with the report that Vitaly Potapenko will join Detroit as well. Potapenko and Bickerstaff crossed paths with the Memphis Grizzlies in 2018-2019.
Detroit’s coaching staff continues to fill out. Potapenko joins a list of Bickerstaff favorites in Sydney Lowe and Luke Walton along with Monty Williams holdovers in Stephen Silas, Dan Burke, and Jarrett Jack.
Potapenko is the resident “big man whisperer”, having worked with Jaren Jackson Jr. with the Grizzlies and Tristan Thompson with the Cleveland Cavaliers. His next task will be working with talented yet flawed center Jalen Duren.
News and Notes
According to Hoops Hype, the Pistons added Gianluca Pascucci to the front office. Pascucci worked with Trajan Langdon when they were both with the Brooklyn Nets.
Detroit, one of the few teams with cap space remaining, could show interest in restricted free agent Isaac Okoro according to Right Down Euclid’s Evan Dammarell.
As I said, it’s a very light week for the Pistons and the NBA. But it’s always quiet before the storm, and training camp will be right around the corner. In the meantime, unwind with the 2024 Summer Olympics and Team USA Basketball, who took down Nikola Jokic and Serbia yesterday.
Thanks for stopping by, and see you next Monday.
Mike