The Eastern Conference looks a lot stronger than it did a year ago. So where do the Pistons, who had the best record in the conference last season, currently stack up against their peers?<\/p>\n
Assuming they re-sign restricted free agent Jalen Duren<\/a>, they should remain competitive within the conference, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic<\/a> writes. Patterson ranks them fourth behind the Knicks, Sixers and Heat.<\/p>\n Patterson believes the team\u2019s growth hinges on the continued development of defensive stalwart Ausar Thompson<\/a>. If Thompson can score around 15 points per game and initiate offense more consistently without compromising his defensive impact, that would raise Detroit\u2019s ceiling.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s more from the Central Division:<\/p>\n Forward Isaac Jones<\/a> averaged 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals through five games in the Las Vegas Summer League. The Pistons\u2019 two-way player is now aiming for a standard contract, he told Coty Davis of the Detroit News<\/a>. He was claimed off waivers from Sacramento in November. \u201cThis offseason is different because I have to earn my spot again. I don\u2019t want to be on a two-way forever, and I feel like this has lit a fire under me,\u201d he said. \u201cLast summer, I was on a standard deal. I had a fire then, but now it has grown because I know I am an NBA player. I am blessed for my time in Sacramento, but having to leave midseason and come here was a blessing in disguise.\u201d
\nMario Hezonja<\/a> returned to the NBA from Europe by signing<\/a> a one-year, $2.85MM contract with the Cavaliers. The veteran forward expressed his joy in a social media post<\/a> on Twitter, stating \u201cNever liked how I left the NBA but these past 5 years have been exactly what I wanted and much needed! I am super happy that my new chapter is with @cavs a team and organization that I have always admired and respected!\u201d
\nThe Pacers are close to the first tax apron and have one roster spot open. Should they use it to second-round pick Braden Smith<\/a>, who remains unsigned? Tony East of Forbes.com<\/a> explores that question, noting that the Pacers currently don\u2019t have an open two-way spot for Smith. If they choose to sign Smith to a two-way deal, Ethan\u00a0 Thompson is the most likely candidate to lose his spot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Eastern Conference looks a lot stronger than it did a year ago. So where do the Pistons,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":838194,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,19702,63,71688,410619,19701,388402,590,85],"class_list":["post-838193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-ausar-thompson","tag-australia","tag-braden-smith","tag-isaac-jones","tag-jalen-duren","tag-mario-hezonja","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=838193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838193\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/838194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=838193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=838193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=838193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}