The Pistons kept both Henry Ellenson and the folks charged with tracking NBA procedural matters busy over the weekend.
In the span of about 26 hours, they sent Ellenson and fellow rookie Michael Gbinije to Grand Rapids of the D-League, recalled them and sent them to Grand Rapids a second time.
Except Ellenson didn’t have to travel any farther than the few tenths of a mile across the parking lot from The Palace to the Auburn Hills team practice facility until following Sunday’s practice, when the Pistons headed out for a four-game road trip and their rookies prepared to drive across the state to spend five days with the Drive.
“I’ve just got to look at it as an opportunity to improve,” Ellenson said. “Our team is doing really well right now, so they’re going to go handle business on the West Coast and I’m going to go handle my own this week. That’s how I’m going to take it.”
And that’s just the attitude Van Gundy was expecting from his rookies, both of whom have met and even exceeded expectations since draft night when the Pistons drafted Ellenson in the first round and Gbinije in the second. The Pistons took Ellenson 18th after rating him 10th on their board and selected Gbinije 49th after pegging him as a first-round prospect.
“I think they understand it’s all part of the plan and it’s all about trying to make them better,” Van Gundy said. “It’s not a, ‘You’re not good enough thing.’ As a matter of fact, if we didn’t think they were good enough, it probably wouldn’t even be worth sending them down there. It’s because you are good and we’ve got big plans for you. We don’t want your development to stall in any way. That’s why we’re doing it.”
Van Gundy sees rare offensive scoring versatility in Ellenson, who hopes to use his time in Grand Rapids polishing those skills while also improving in the area where he most needs work to make a dent in the NBA – the defensive end.
“Grand Rapids does all the same stuff we do up here, so just continue to grow in the system,” Ellenson said. “Just kind of play my game, be able to pick and pop, hit shots, pump fake and get to the rim and also post up on smaller guys. Also, when I go down there, not everyone’s as tall. I may have to guard some guards and I think that will be useful, helpful for me because it’s something I haven’t had to do. I know I can guard those guys, so it’ll be good for me just to go compete.”
The relationship between the Pistons and the Drive, their D-League affiliate, should ease the rookies’ acclimation. Drive coach Rex Walters and his staff were with the Pistons through training camp, as were three players on the Grand Rapids roster: Ray McCallum Jr., Trey Freeman and Nikola Jovanovic. The Pistons also will have assistant coach Aaron Gray accompany the rookies to oversee their individual workouts between Drive practice sessions, which will include two twice-daily sessions leading to their Friday season opener.
They got a little taste of it Saturday. After participating in the walk-through for the game with Denver that night, Ellenson and Gbinije went to The Palace for a three-team D-League scrimmage that also included Canton and Fort Wayne. Then they were recalled, suited up for the Pistons against Denver and went through Sunday’s practice before the paper work was filed to return them to the Drive.
“I’m sure they’ll miss being with their teammates, but I think they miss playing more than that,” Van Gundy said. “These are guys who’ve played at a high level their whole lives and now they’re sitting. This is a chance to go play. They seem to have approached it great. I thought yesterday they both played hard and well and I expect they’ll do the same all week in Grand Rapids.”