ORLANDO – For Stanley Johnson, it’s about developing those parts of his game that will allow him to take the next leap in a career bristling with promise. For Darrun Hilliard, it will be getting more comfortable and putting himself in position to challenge for a Pistons rotation spot.
For Henry Ellenson, it will be taking the baby steps all teens who suddenly find themselves in a man’s world must experience to set their careers on the right path. For fellow rookie Michael Gbinije, it will be proving his senior-year transition to point guard at Syracuse can carry over to the NBA.
For pretty much everyone else, Summer League for those who’ve gathered under the Pistons umbrella in central Florida is about converting a Hail Mary pass to win a job to the NBA or, more likely, ensuring themselves a job somewhere else where basketball can pay the bills.
And plenty of the players who fall under that category are power forwards or centers – seven of them in addition to Ellenson – as the Pistons audition them to perhaps win a roster spot. Stan Van Gundy said last week the Pistons will add two big men this off-season. One will surely come via trade or free agency and be expected to fit into the rotation, but the other will be mostly for depth in case of injury and probably will be on a veteran minimum contract.
Here’s a look at the players assembled here who began practicing Tuesday in preparation for Saturday’s Summer League opener:
- Stanley Johnson – A 6-foot-7 small forward coming off his rookie year with the Pistons as the No. 8 pick in the 2015 NBA draft after a freshman season at Arizona. Johnson, 20, averaged 8.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in 23 minutes a game as a rookie. He averaged 10.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.6 assists in nine February games before a shoulder injury caused him to miss eight games.
- Darrun Hilliard – A 6-foot-6 shooting guard drafted 38th overall in the 2015 draft after a four-year career at Villanova. Hilliard, 23, averaged 4.0 points in 38 games and shot 38 percent from the 3-point arc.
- Henry Ellenson – A 6-foot-11½ power forward drafted No. 18 by the Pistons in the 2016 draft after averaging 17 points and 9.7 rebounds a game. Ellenson was a five-star recruit ranked the No. 11 prospect in the country coming out of tiny Rice Lake, Wis., in the high school class of 2015.
- Michael Gbinije – A 6-foot-7 guard drafted 49th overall by the Pistons in the 2016 NBA draft, Gbinije, 24, began his college career at Duke before transferring to Syracuse for his final three seasons. Transitioned to point guard as a senior and averaged 17.5 points and 4.3 assists in 38 minutes a game for the Orange.
- Lorenzo Brown – A 6-foot-5 point guard drafted 52nd overall by Minnesota in 2013 after his junior season at North Carolina State. Brown has played 63 NBA games over the past three seasons for Philadelphia, Minnesota and Phoenix and finished the 2015-16 season with the Pistons.
- Kadeem Jack – A 6-foot-9 power forward out of Rutgers who went undrafted in 2015. Jackson spent the past season playing for Fort Wayne of the D-League, averaging 8.7 points and 4.3 rebounds in only 14 minutes a game. Jack participated in a camp for free agents the Pistons held earlier this month in Auburn Hills.
- Chavaughn Lewis – A 6-foot-5 shooting guard who went undrafted out of Marist – where he played for Pistons general manager Jeff Bower – in 2015. He averaged 11.5 points a game last season for Juventus in the Lithuanian pro league.
- Kammeon Holsey – A 6-foot-8 power forward who went undrafted out of Georgia Tech in 2014, Holsey also played for the Pistons in 2015 Summer League. He averaged 8.2 points and 4.7 rebounds in 21 minutes a game last season for the Grand Rapids Drive, Pistons D-League affiliate.
- Derrick Nix – A 6-foot-9 center who went undrafted out of Michigan State in 2013, Nix is a Detroit native and another participant in the free-agent camp the Pistons held in early June. He averaged 8.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 16 minutes in 20 games late in the season while playing in the Latvian pro league.
- Brandon Davies – A 6-foot-10 power forward/center who went undrafted out of BYU in 2013 but stuck in the NBA for two seasons with Philadelphia and Brooklyn, appearing in 78 games with six starts. He led his Italian team, Varese, in scoring (13.3) and rebounding (6.5) in 26 minutes a game last season.
- Tekele Cotton – A 6-foot-3 shooting guard who went undrafted out of Wichita State in 2015, Cotton averaged 8.8 points as the starting shooting guard for Ludwigsburg in the German pro league.
- Phil Pressey – A 5-foot-11 point guard who went undrafted out of Missouri in 2013, Pressey also participated in the free-agent camp the Pistons hosted earlier this month. He spent two seasons with the Boston Celtics, starting 11 games as a rookie, and played with both Philadelphia and Phoenix last season.
- Kaleb Tarczewski – A 7-foot-0 center who went undrafted out of Arizona in the 2016 draft, Tarczewski was a four-year starter who was teammates with Stanley Johnson in 2014-15 under Sean Miller at Arizona. He averaged 9.4 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots as a senior.
- Nikola Jovanovic – A 6-foot-11 power forward who went undrafted out of Southern Cal, Jovanovic, 22, is a native of Serbia. He averaged 12.1 points and 7.0 rebounds a game last season for the Trojans.
- Jordan Bachynski – A 7-foot-2 center who went undrafted out of Arizona State in 2014, Bachynski, 26, went to training camp with the Pistons last fall and spent the season playing for Westchester of the D-League, where he was named first team All-Defense.