Summer League, Bobi Klintman, and Balsa Koprivica | The Weekly Drive
NBA Summer League has come and gone for the Pistons, as eyes turn toward training camp in a few months.
July is almost over, Summer League is wrapping up, and training camp is somehow right around the corner. We will cover that and more in this edition of the Palace of Pistons Weekly Drive. Let’s get into it.
Summer League Roundup
The Pistons finished up their summer league with a record of 2-3, but it isn’t the win-loss record that fans should be looking at. Summer League savant Aaron Johnson published a good roundup of the risers and fallers of Detroit’s summer league, including the uneven Ron Holland, the surprising Bobi Klintman, and the slightly disappointing Marcus Sasser.
Klintman has, so far, been the most interesting prospect of the bunch. While his shooting numbers leave something to be desired, he is still making his presence on the court felt. In the Pistons’ 91-90 loss to the New York Knicks Klintman scored only nine points on 3/10 shooting, but he added eight rebounds, five assists, and two steals. He was a willing three-point shooter in that game too, with nine of his shot attempts coming from beyond the arc.
It’s far too early to predict Klintman’s future, but his blend of athleticism and multi-tooled capabilities is interesting. Compared to other prospects the Pistons have had in the past, “interesting” is a huge upgrade.
As for Holland, the bouncy wing is more than capable of going off and doing things like this.
The biggest question for Holland is whether his shot comes around or not. And no, not shots around the rim. He has that covered.
Sasser is the “veteran” of the group. The Pistons picked up a lot of players this past offseason that overlap with Sasser, so the second-year guard needed to show out this Summer. His shooting has been very uneven and his assist numbers are not what you would want.
Other News and Notes
The Los Angeles Clippers traded Russell Westbrook to the Utah Jazz for Kris Dunn but also sent out former Pistons prospect Balsa Koprivica in the trade. Koprivica appeared in two Summer League rosters for Detroit before being traded for cash to Los Angeles.
Las Vegas has set the Pistons’ over/under win total at 24.5, a 10-win increase from last year, but still fourth-worst in the league. Only the Washington Wizards, Portland Trail Blazers, and Brooklyn Nets rank lower.
Quiet news week for the NBA as the Summer League wraps up and we wait out the next move for Lauri Markkanen. Until then, the Pistons seem pretty set in stone with their roster. But, in the NBA, nobody and nothing is safe. See you next week.
Mike