JB Bickerstaff has made one thing clear: the Pistons are going to use their depth, and that could open the door for Ebuka Okorie.
Detroit’s coach said the team will have to sort through some difficult choices over the course of the season, but he also stressed that the opportunities will be there across the full 82 games.
“We’ve gotta make some tough decisions, but it’s an 82-game season and we’ve proven we’re gonna give guys opportunities throughout the 82,” Bickerstaff said via Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press.
For Okorie, that kind of approach matters. The Pistons took him with the 17th overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, and he has already shown enough to suggest he deserves a chance to play this season. If Bickerstaff is serious about spreading minutes around, Okorie should have a real shot to get his name called.
Rookies do not always see the floor right away, and some coaches are far more selective about when they trust first-year players. But Okorie has given Detroit reasons to believe he can be one of those exceptions.
At Stanford, where he spent his lone college season, Okorie operated as a creator and showed he could shoulder offensive responsibility at times. That kind of skill set stands out for a Pistons team that lacks much creation beyond Cade Cunningham.
So far in preseason, Okorie has shown flashes of that promise. The shot has not been falling at a high level, but he has still been an efficient scorer outside of that.
Detroit has a chance to build one of the deepest rosters in the league, and Okorie could end up being a meaningful piece of that. He is a rookie, sure, but if the talent shows through and the Pistons keep giving him runway, he could start to make his mark sooner rather than later.
There is also a clear opening behind Cunningham. The Pistons do not currently have a true backup point guard, and Okorie could work his way into that spot. Ausar Thompson will also get a chance to handle the ball some, but the lane is there for Okorie.
Bickerstaff’s willingness to lean on Detroit’s depth is exactly the kind of development that gives Okorie a path to real minutes this season.
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What makes the comparison even more encouraging for the Pistons is that Thompsons contract came in slightly higher, a sign of how much the league still believes in his upside. The two players are not identical offensively, with different roles and different paths toward impact, but the defensive value is obvious on both sides. For a Detroit team trying to stack young talent that fits together, Wallaces deal is another reminder that Thompsons value is very real, and possibly only beginning to show itself. [Read more 🡒]