Vince Ellis

No one is predicting a Woodward Avenue championship parade in June.

But it’s clear the Detroit Pistons, coming off three straight losing seasons, are seen in a different light as the season opener against the Orlando Magic at Little Caesars Arena approaches. The Pistons were one of eight teams cited by general managers as having the best core of promising young players in the league, according to a survey published by NBA.com.

The optimism is a product of Pistons General Manager Troy Weaver’s stewardship of the franchise since he was hired in the summer of 2020. Three draft classes have produced guard Cade Cunningham, forward Saddiq Bey, center Isaiah Stewart, guard Killian Hayes, forward Isaiah Livers, guard Jaden Ivey and center Jalen Duren. The same survey picked Cunningham as one of several young players to breakout this season.

Combined with the additions of veteran shooters Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, some are predicting the Pistons to at least challenge for the play-in tournament after three straight losing seasons. That was the sentiment shared by fans who attended the recent open scrimmage at Little Caesars Arena.

Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores has similar optimism for the upcoming season, and while he also expects the typical adversity to come, he shared his confidence in the franchise’s direction with players during a gathering at Gores’ Malibu home, which was a resumption of the event that was put on hold because of the pandemic.

“I've now owned the team for 11 years, and I've never felt this way,” Gores said. “This is a great foundation, it's a tremendous foundation. Part of the reason I love the players on this team is that you have tremendous skill, but there's a lot of humility here. With humility, you also reflect and that’s how you improve. I really love this energy. I love it, and I don't say that often.”

As an assistant general manager with the Oklahoma City Thunder for just over a decade, Weaver developed a reputation as a supreme talent evaluator. Weaver was an integral part of draft processes that landed All-Stars Russell Westbrook and James Harden.

That reputation attracted the interest of Gores and Pistons Vice Chairman Arn Tellem when they recruited Weaver to head up the Pistons organization, announcing his hiring in May 2020.

“Troy is an outstanding executive with an exceptional track record for identifying and developing talent,” Gores said at the time. “In talking with Troy, he’s got both the skill and temperament to lead, and the confidence and creativity to work collaboratively with others. We’re excited for him to take the reins as general manager of the Pistons at this important moment.”

The Pistons were coming off a pandemic-shortened 20-46 season and the organization had collectively decided it was time to rebuild through the draft. Weaver went to work and by the start of the 2021-22 season, not one player Weaver inherited remained on the Pistons roster.

Weaver’s first two draft classes landed Hayes, Bey, Stewart and Cunningham. And on the morning of this past June’s NBA Draft, Gores told Weaver to “go for it.” The Pistons used the fifth overall pick to select Ivey, a Purdue guard. A draft night trade later added the athletic Duren who played one season at Memphis.

Weaver has established he is looking for athletic prospects, but there is a clear emphasis on character and work ethic, which Gores heartily endorses.

With Pistons head coach Dwane Casey’s ability to develop young talent, Gores likes how things are headed, something he felt he had to share with most organization representatives visiting his Malibu home in August. After two summers of necessary pandemic protocols, the party was also an opportunity for the young players to get to know Gores.

“Having annual parties and traditions like that to start the year off is obviously a plus and we're always grateful for that,” Livers said. “But most importantly, it's just being around the owner, which ironically enough you already see Tom a good amount more than you would see any other owners.”

Several thousand fans gathered at LCA earlier this month to watch the Pistons at the team’s annual open scrimmage. The crowd was dotted with Lions and Tigers jerseys since both franchises would be in action later in the day.

“I know there’s a million things you could be doing this morning rather than come out here to watch Pistons practice, but we love it,” Casey said. “We’re expecting a great year this year. Stay with us. Jump on the bandwagon now, stay with us through the ups and downs of the season. Good things are going to happen. There’s a big pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.”

Emitt Allen, 11, who was attending the scrimmage with his mother and friends, is on the bandwagon and shares the overall optimism. He is expecting a major step forward. He expects Cunningham to make the All-Star Game. He is also expecting Cunningham to make third team All-NBA.

“We have a young core so in the few next years I think we'll be consistent with making the playoffs,” Allen said.

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Why Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores believes in franchise’s ‘great foundation’

Head coach D.J. Bakker can recall many fond memories from the inaugural season of the Motor City Cruise.

The Cruise, the Detroit Pistons’ G League affiliate, finished second in the league and reached the second round of the playoffs in its first season. The franchise was one of three teams to reach the playoffs and the G-League Showcase Cup tournament, a mid-season scouting event held in Las Vegas. Cruise players filled in admirably with the Pistons when a COVID outbreak sidelined many regulars.

But Bakker, who grew up near Chicago, has a specific memory that comes to mind when he is asked about the upcoming season, which begins Nov. 4 at the Cleveland Charge.

The Cruise was playing the Windy City Bulls when he noticed a father and his son seated nearby. He told the boy to remember the evening because he was getting an up-close look at professional basketball.

“I told the kid I would've done anything to be able to go to a professional basketball game when I was growing up during the Michael Jordan era,” Bakker said recently. “We couldn't afford tickets to go see the Bulls when Jordan was playing.

“But the G League is a great opportunity for families and anybody that loves basketball because the G League is made up of future NBA players. Every game that we play, you're going to have two, three, four, sometimes five NBA guys on the court at once. To see them up close and personal when they're in the developmental phase of their career, it is a great opportunity for fans.”

The G League is also a great opportunity for players, something to keep in mind when the Cruise will hold open tryouts Thursday at the Henry Ford Pistons Performance Center. Players will be competing for an invitation to the Cruise’s training camp, which begins in November. Pistons and Cruise front office personnel and coaching staffs will supervise drills and scrimmages while performing complete player evaluations.

“When you're coming in for an open tryout, the first thing we look at is conditioning,” he said. “The second thing is competitiveness on both sides of the ball. The third thing we look at is unselfishness, someone who is playing the right way.”

The Cruise represents the third piece of Pistons and Cruise owner&nbsp;Tom Gores’&nbsp;decision to move the franchise back to downtown Detroit. First, the Pistons decided to play home games at Little Caesars Arena beginning in 2017. Second, the Pistons would build a new headquarters that would house basketball and business operations. The headquarters opened in 2019. The last step was to bring a G League franchise to Detroit to offer an improved developmental experience for young players while also bringing an affordable entertainment option for city residents.

Gores and the Pistons purchased a G League franchise from the Phoenix Suns in 2020, and moved the franchise to Detroit. The Cruise played its first season last year with home games played at the new Wayne State Fieldhouse.

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Motor City Cruise’s second season offers fans another chance to see ‘future NBA players’ in developmental stages

MACKINAC ISLAND – Detroit Pistons forward Jerami Grant is a man of few words.

But it only takes a few words to describe his emotions when he watched a Minneapolis police officer kill George Floyd in May 2020. The video sparked worldwide outrage and brought social justice awareness to the forefront. It still resonates more than two years later.

“It was wrong, it was an injustice,” Grant said. "I felt a lot of a anger, sadness.”

That anger partly influenced Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores’ decision to establish a $20 million fund to build a new community center in the city of Detroit. The decision came after a recommendation from Pistons players and team officials, who conducted due diligence for months after Gores sought the organization’s input on how to help social justice causes before the start of last season. Last week’s announcement occurred a few days after the two-year anniversary of Floyd’s death.

“I let them know that we wanted to do something, that I was not going to define it myself, but we were committed to do something to make more progress and do it fast,” Gores told NBC Sports broadcaster Mike Tirico during a question-answer session at the Detroit Regional Chamber-sponsored Mackinac Policy Conference.

“Obviously everybody was upset about (George Floyd), but true change comes from the ground. The players are (living on the ground), they've been hurt, and they've been through tough situations.”

Gores has pledged to work with the Detroit Parks &amp; Recreation Department and residents to develop the new 25,000 square foot multi-use facility adjacent to historic Brennan Pool in the Cody Rouge neighborhood. The plan will also renovate the existing pool and locker room facilities and bring a diverse range of year-round programming to the neighborhood. The project is anticipated to be completed by the end of 2024.

“The facility itself will be the best of its kind and provide residents with a safe space to learn, play and grow,” Gores said. “But more than just a building, we will create a hub that brings together people from the neighborhood and throughout the city who want to make a difference in this community.”

A second phase of the plan will create an enclosed structure around one of the two Olympic-size pools located at the Brennan site, creating year-round access to swimming lessons and water safety classes to address an unmet need for Detroiters.

“When you look at a map of community center locations throughout the city of Detroit, we have known for a long time that there was a big hole in the Cody Rouge neighborhood,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said.&nbsp;“Now, thanks to Tom Gores and the Detroit Pistons, that hole is being filled and the residents of Cody Rouge will have a new first-class indoor facility providing a wide range of activity and engagement space.”

How the effort to help Cody Rouge neighborhood began

The initiative is the next step in a journey that officially began when Gores told Pistons players, coaches, front office personnel and other members of the organization that he was establishing the fund to help social justice efforts in Detroit.

“I’ll participate in helping the system and the process so it runs like a machine and every day someone is thinking about it,” Gores said during a Zoom call to the organization the night following Media Day activities in September. “We’re not going to be those people who are just going to react to when something happens.

“Enough has happened that we should be reacting every single day.”

Gores decided to seek input from the entire organization during discussions with Pistons coach Dwane Casey, general manager Troy Weaver and vice chairman Arn Tellem. There were two guiding principles: the program should be additive rather than supporting existing community relations initiatives, and that its priorities be set by Pistons employees, players, coaches and staff.

The team worked with the players over several months to identify key areas of focus, which include education, mentorship, vocational services, life skills, financial literacy, emotional intelligence for youth, and food insecurity. The overarching theme was to help youths and their parents.

The players were swayed after visits to area facilities and community organizations. During the final meeting of the season in April, players unanimously decided that the most impactful impact would be to build a community center in an underserved Detroit neighborhood.

When growing up in Rochester, N.Y., Pistons center Isaiah Stewart played youth soccer and boxed before discovering basketball. He said community centers provided a vital role in his journey from childhood to adulthood.

“Community centers provided a safe space because after school I always had something to do,” Stewart said. “That led me to boxing, soccer, and eventually getting into basketball, but I was always busy. They can also give adults who work some peace of mind knowing their kids are in a safe environment, learning or getting better or just having fun.”

District 7, where Rouge Park is located, is the only Detroit district without an indoor community center. During a recent morning visit to the park, city residents walked the park’s four hiking trails. Brennan Pool, which opened in 1929, was easily located. There are two Olympic-sized swimming pools, which hosted the 1956 and 1960 U.S. Olympic swimming and diving trials and was included as part of Detroit’s proposal to host the 1968 Summer Olympic Games (eventually awarded to Mexico City).

The center will serve more than 24,000 with youths making up 35% of the area, according to data provided by the city. More than 60% of area residents are considered low income.

As Pistons officials explored options, Duggan and his team presented an investment plan to renovate eight existing centers. Tellem could see the potential during a tour of Rogue Park.

“Once we do this, there's going to be others that are going to come in to help us, maybe tying this community center to a school, to other services, so we can really provide not just impact for the youth, but their families as well,” Tellem said. “I'm hoping&nbsp; this community center has the chance to really impact this community in a significant way.”

City officials and Pistons representatives and will host community meetings with District 7 residents to solicit neighborhood feedback on amenities and programming they would like to see incorporated into the new center. When work is completed, the site will become Detroit’s flagship community center with the idea it will be the most used indoor recreation center in the city.

Gores is planning on doing more as the announcement is the first in a series of initiatives Gores envisions for the Tom Gores Family Foundation. At the end of his Mackinac appearance, Gores revealed he will invest $100 million in creating a charitable organization.

"So, in the next several months, and I think probably by the end of the year, I want to create an organization that the community center is just the first of it," Gores said. “I'm really thinking about the future, and I feel like in our world, especially in our desire for social progress, we are controlled by crisis. While we're controlled by crisis, we don't pursue opportunity.

community-center-in-detroit

Inside Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores’ decision to build a new $20 million community center in Detroit as part of a social justice initiative: ‘We should be reacting every single day'  ￼

Chamber CEO Sandy K. Baruah thanks Tellem and the Pistons for assistance in conducting annual policy conference

MACKINAC ISLAND – With his voice catching and tears in his eyes, Arn Tellem made an emotional appeal in his remarks welcoming 2022 Mackinac Policy Conference attendees.

With the recent mass shooting incidents in Buffalo and Uvalde still fresh in memories, the conference chairman asked for leaders to address the gun violence crisis.

“We have witnessed two more senseless tragedies in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas,” Tellem said Wednesday morning.&nbsp; “If there ever was a time that we need to come together, it’s now. Why not start here?”

The remarks and subsequent somber applause served as a reminder that the role of business is evolving. The conference is typically a place where business leaders and government officials gather to discuss policy, but this year’s theme focused on the business community’s changing role in these polarizing times.

Tellem, the Detroit Pistons vice chairman, said the time for silence is over when it comes to issues like gun violence.

“At a time when our loudest, meanest voices seem to grow in power and prominence, we can no longer afford to be silent,” Tellem said. “Inaction is not an option. It’s our belief that companies should play a more visible public role on important issues.”

The Detroit Regional Chamber selected Tellem to chair this year’s conference, which had a distinct Pistons feel. In one of the featured sessions, Pistons owner Tom Gores participated in a Q&amp;A session conducted by emmy-winning NBC sports personality Mike Tirico. Many Pistons representatives assisted in the planning of the conference, which takes place annually on Mackinac Island.

“Having Arn Tellem, (wife) Nancy Tellem and the entire Pistons Sports &amp; Entertainment team as partners for this conference has been an amazing experience,” Chamber president and chief executive officer Sandy K. Baruah said. “From everything from thought leadership to content providing to all the things they’ve done to make this conference incredibly special, I just want to thank Arn and the Pistons for everything.”

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, Detroit mayor Mike Duggan, Pulitzer Prize-winning author John Meacham, Los Angeles Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross and many other elected officials were among the notable names that attended.

Tellem was selected after an eventful stretch since Gores asked him to join the Pistons in 2015.

The Pistons moved back to the city of Detroit in 2017 to play at Little Caesars Arena. In 2019, in partnership with Henry Ford Health, the Pistons opened a state-of-the-art performance center and world headquarters. Last year, the G League’s Motor City Cruise, in its inaugural season, helped to open Wayne State Arena, which was built through a partnership with the Pistons.

But even more importantly, the Pistons are impactful in the community with strengthened philanthropic efforts. Wednesday’s announcement that Gores has established a $20 million fund to build a new community center on Detroit’s west side drew the most applause during Tellem’s remarks.

The Pistons have also been at the forefront of social justice efforts.

Tellem recited the accomplishments proudly while also expressing confidence in the direction of the Pistons on the court with the NBA Draft approaching.

But with Tellem serving as conference chair and Gores speaking on Thursday, the Pistons’ off-the-court presence is leading the way.

In his opening remarks Wednesday, Baruah acknowledged the community engagement and social justice are areas where business leaders must engage. “This is incredibly important for all of us because this is new territory for business,” Baruah said. “Not long ago it was unthinkable for the business community to be talking out so publicly in the public square, but from social justice to the integrity of our elections to access to the ballot box to promoting vaccines for public safety, the business community has really found itself in a new world with frankly some uncertain footing.”

Vince Ellis

Why Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores believes in franchise’s ‘great foundation’

Motor City Cruise’s second season offers fans another chance to see ‘future NBA players’ in developmental stages

Inside Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores’ decision to build a new $20 million community center in Detroit as part of a social justice initiative: ‘We should be reacting every single day' ￼

Detroit Pistons vice chairman Arn Tellem at Mackinac Policy Conference: Silence is not an option for business leaders during polarizing times

Inside Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores’ decision to build a new $20 million community center in Detroit as part of a social justice initiative: ‘We should be reacting every single day'