Pistons should feel encouraged by USA Select Team additions

The inclusion of young Detroit Pistons guards Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren on USA Basketball’s Select Team ahead of the August FIBA World Cup is a positive sign for Detroit, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

Langlois writes that even being named to the group against which Team USA will scrimmage should be seen as a big honor and being able to rub shoulders with some of the elite young players in the game should help clue the Pistons’ starting backcourt into just what it takes to thrive as a pro.

Langlois adds that Cunningham, the No. 1 pick out of in 2021, opted out of actually playing for Team USA proper last winter as he continues to rehabilitate his surgically-repaired shin.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

• New Pistons head coach Monty Williams is set to have numerous options as he susses out Detroit’s rotation, writes Langlois in a separate piece.
• Indiana Pacers All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton and newly-acquired power forward Obi Toppin gave fans a tantalizing look at their on-court fit during Kyle Guy‘s Dizzy Runs Pro Am in Noblesville, Indiana, per The Indianapolis Star (subscriber-only link). Toppin discussed his offseason program. “It’s been mostly making shots and working on some of the actions that are different than New York’s,” Toppin said. “It’s just learning the new lingo and the offense that they run. I’ve been working with Ty with that and he’s been teaching me a little bit.”
• The Cleveland Cavaliers’ priority is holding onto All-Star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell long-term with a team that he enjoys, not flipping his maximum contract, writes Sean Deveney of Heavy.com. Mitchell has a player option for 2025-26, meaning he could reach free agency in just two seasons. “They’re doing their best to reconfigure things around him and just keep rolling out the red carpet, making sure he knows he is taking care of, all of that,” a source informed Deveney. “No one is hitting the eject button on this. There is a lot of cost that’s been sunk into him and they’re going to push forward.”