r/DetroitPistons • u/Left_Dance_8954 Grant Hill • 16h ago
Discussion [Piston Powered]Ebuka Okorie is making life tough for JB Bickerstaff sooner than expected
https://pistonpowered.com/ebuka-okorie-making-life-tough-jb-bickerstaff-sooner-than-expected-detroit-pistons166
u/Kayeyedouble Ben Wallace 15h ago
I was an Okorie truther but its time to pump the breaks. Danniss did his thing at every level of comp last year. Okorie doing this against g league guards in preseason isn’t enough to cause any real conversations
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u/Low_Frosting3918 Jaden Ivey 14h ago
I definitely see him having moments early on, he's too quick and shifty. He has the best handle on the team, he's a great finisher, yes I know it's against lower tier talent but when do you see him miss a lay-up? It's things he will have to work on to be in the rotation but he brings a skillset we don't have and that we need. I expect him to get solid minutes by February.
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u/Zealousideal_Arm4359 12h ago
You’re right.
BUT he’s also a young rookie and they are older and getting paid.
All I have seen from him is smart play and if he’s scared he doesn’t show it.
They were double teaming him.
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u/Wolverines1010 9h ago
When I saw that double team.. I knew then it's getting real. Bro the deal. They had do like that GI Joe episode with Lady J , Flint, Cobra Commander and The Baroness...🤣🤣🤣🤣
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u/LTgolf17 11h ago
I don't see why jenkins and okorie cant play together. I think theyd work well with each other
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u/Top-Noise-7375 Ausar Thompson 12h ago edited 11h ago
Daniss was like a C tier back up PG he shouldn’t be hailed so much that Okorie isn’t even given a shot to take his minutes.
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u/jxden24 11h ago
if he's a C tier back up pg what is daniss ?
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u/Top-Noise-7375 Ausar Thompson 11h ago
I’m actually such a dumbass a wrote his name twice accidentally
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u/jxden24 10h ago
all good lol i agree idek why this is a convo, ebuka does everything in that role better than jenkins
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u/StattPadford 9h ago
He hasn't even played a game yet. Do yall not remember when Daniss was putting up 20-10s when Cade was out?
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u/KPR_2002 10h ago
Would it be the first time a rookie actually was really good from the get go? So yeah, pump your breaks if you want. But I’m going to be super excited and hitting the gas pedal
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u/nakfoor810 Peton 6h ago
I don’t necessarily agree, a lot of teams this preseason have been playing starters/rotation players he’s doing this against actual comp
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u/Howdesign 15h ago
Regardless of the level of competition, his confidence, shot and composure is impressive. Reminds me of rookie Kevin McGonigle with the Tigers. Not the biggest dude, but has the look of a player who’s not phased by the bright lights.
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u/DoctorClarkWGriswold 14h ago
McGonigle is an absolute stud. He really is just a somewhat unassuming guy relative to some of his MLB counterparts, yet just completed one of the greatest rookie campaigns in MLB history.
I honestly haven’t been following G League, but if Okorie has the basketball IT factor the way McGonigle has that baseball IT, then I hope he gets his shot sooner than later. It will pay dividends quickly for the Tigers. I’d love to see it for the Pistons as well.
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u/mc_foucault Dennis Rodman 12h ago
I was trying to find a way to say this yesterday during the game. I watched every single McGonigle at bat this year and even the ones where he struck out on 3 pitches looked better than any tiger since Miggy. The kid just lives baseball and you can tell understands the game at an elite level. Watching through the Stanford games and all Okories preseason minutes you see a familiar spark of understanding the game at a higher level. I still think the comp is better to minor league/HS Kevin but absolutely would love to see Okorie get more run than most rookies.
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u/Able_AdeptnessMeta 9h ago
Some guys you can tell just get it. I felt that way about McGonigle the first time seeing him with the Whitecaps, and I get similar vibes from Okorie.
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u/rambouhh 12h ago
I mean mcgonigle is a top 5 player in the AL already, as good as okorie is he’s a long way from that
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u/Euphoric-Bit1969 14h ago
Last nights game was a lot of fun to watch.
I’m beyond excited to see if this translates to regular season.
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u/ElephantsOutside 14h ago
He's a squiggly young player, gonna be fun!!!!
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u/Sudden_Office8710 13h ago
He barely got 12 points on the board and the Raptors were double teaming him this is a very good sign. He can definitely get his own shot. He finishes at the rim better than Jankins for sure. And he’s able to shake n bake a contested mid range jumper too. He’s probably the best pick up over Collins and Joe
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u/ElephantsOutside 13h ago
Yeah, I personally see him way different than Daniss but I've only watched a little of the preseason. It's no disrespect to Daniss, they're just different. Okie is gonna wiggle up to the rim, Daniss gonna pull up I guess, or pass.
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u/jazzmaster105150 Pistons 13h ago edited 13h ago
Danniss EARNED his spot. I'm high on Ebuka but the reality is, he's a 19-year-old kid that looked impressive against bench players and g-leaguer's. The kid simply hasn't proven himself against S or A-tier NBA talent, He'll get his chance.
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u/Top-Noise-7375 Ausar Thompson 12h ago
Just because Daniss had moments against NBA starters doesn’t mean he wasn’t barely contributing for half the season when he came off the bench.
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u/jazzmaster105150 Pistons 11h ago
You don't have to dog Danniss to lift up Ebuka. Both guys are on the same team and both will get their opportunity to contribute to the team.
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u/UBahn1 8h ago
I agree but to the point of the article, he's definitely shown he has something special this preseason. He could very well earn his own spot already, time will tell. I'm a huge Daniss supporter and Ebuka is by far our most exciting add this offseason so it's a tough prospect regardless of how he performs.
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u/StaffOk9715 14h ago
I think the plan will be to give Jenkins most of the minutes early on but Okorie will get his spots, and if Okorie keeps outproducing Jenkins, Jenkins will lose minutes to Okorie as the season goes on. It's a problem with an obvious solution. We are talking about a fight for bench minutes, not a starting spot.
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u/thecity2 13h ago
It's funny that people are anchoring so hard on Daniss Jenkins who was a 24 year old rookie, played for 3 different college teams you never heard of and makes $4M. This is not a guy who you have to debate moving off of very hard.
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u/Top-Noise-7375 Ausar Thompson 12h ago
Well said, a first round pick that looks promising SHOULD be chomping at the minutes of a C tier back up point guard.
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u/Zealousideal_Arm4359 12h ago
People on here get strangely attached to bench players.
See Beef Stew and Huerter.
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u/NAW_MIP_2026 10h ago
Hawks fan here, Beef Stew was much more justified, the dude was a top tier rim protector and had a ton of hustle. In the current NBA landscape a backup center of that caliber is super valuable. Plus he was a huge part of the teams identity for multiple years, had a much bigger role and got paid like 4x as much as Daniss.
Daniss had some great moments last year but really he was getting more minutes than he would on most teams because the pistons desperately needed shot creation. He's only been with the pistons for a year too. It's okay that pistons fans like the guy and he might have a little more in the tank, but when a GM trades up for a player in the draft it's quite likely the GM values that player pretty highly and wants to see them play and develop. Whether or not his game really translates, he clearly has a higher ceiling than Daniss just based on his age/production/skill level.
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u/Shiny-Star1617 11h ago
Daniss is someone who either plays so well he prices himself out of staying with the Pistons or he plays so awful Okorie takes his spot midseason. There just isnt a world he is a Piston past this year IMO
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u/SipowiczNYPD Rasheed Wallace 14h ago
I’m thankful for Daniss Jenkins’ contributions to the team last season, but the sooner Okorie takes his job the better.
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u/ElephantsOutside 14h ago edited 11h ago
Tangent but I think JB is handling the growth of this team well even though he made some questionable lineups last year. [JB, thanks @Zealousideal_Arm4359]
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u/mc_foucault Dennis Rodman 12h ago
Not having a solid but inconsistent familiar vet helps a lot. Lavert not being on the team will get all the young guys so many more valuable minutes.
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u/hoof02 Rasheed Wallace 13h ago
I think he still plays behind Daniss this year but next year makes the jump. I think he’s gonna end up being a great pick!
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u/fwoompf George Blaha 9h ago
Look at those contracts dudes like Podz got and what Anthony Black wants. Daniss may well be valuable at the trade deadline.
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u/Ok-Confucious1642 6h ago
Lmao what?!? Daniss is nowhere even in the same universe as those two players, not to mention those are rookie extension deals, baling in young talent that has produced adding even more and developing to be worth the cost of the final years. Daniss is none of that and has no upside ceiling to reach. Daniss is not and will lot be valuable in trades lol he’s a piston and valuable to them as their home guy they value more than anyone else ever will. You’d have to trade multiple firsts with Daniss to get either of those guys and that would be bc their teams have to move them bc of financial reasons and it would be a hypothetical scenario where Daniss is salary, not adding any sort of value towards either of those two players value. What an insane take lol
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u/acat114 Maker 13h ago
If Okorie got off to a mid or slow start in the preseason I know this sub would be jumping down Trajan's back, but he's been awesome so it's time to "pump the breaks" on our excitement
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u/Ok-Confucious1642 6h ago
The sub already acted like he was a Dylan Harper level draft pick in summer league, they absolutely would not do what you said. They’d say pre season doesn’t matter and refer to how he looked in summer league. All being horrible homer takes
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u/Designer_Bus7803 12h ago
He's got that IT factor, he will have to get used to the real ballers, but by next season he'll be ready!
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u/fatsosolos Ben Wallace 11h ago
honestly not really a problem. give him some sasser minutes when the regular reason starts and go from there. if he proves himself better than daniss within the first few months, give him his spot
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u/VikingCore00 9h ago
Dude is sneaky and lethal! Knew he was special ever since summer league. Even if he doesn't make the team initially, really hope they retain him and develop.
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u/Purple_Associate4507 8h ago
https://youtu.be/crTdsu8qqMs?si=K2fJqAxq0TsIwwSU
Ebuka at 9! Has been doing this for a long time.
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u/midwestsweetking 13h ago
Like Denzel Valentine/Anthony Bennet
Looks amazing against guys who won’t get much playing time.
Let’s wait and see how things unfold
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u/CoercedCoexistence22 Bill Laimbeer 13h ago
Fuck is
Cade, Daniss and Ebuka are the new Isiah, Joe and Vinnie
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u/thecity2 13h ago
Isaiah Joe is already on the team.
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u/CoercedCoexistence22 Bill Laimbeer 13h ago
Yeah I did chuckle typing it out once I realised that haha
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u/burnn_out313 Bill Laimbeer 15h ago
For Okorie to be worth the trade and draft selection, this is at minimum what he should br showing, otherwise it's just bad team management. Daniss is on a team friendly deal, plays at a starter capable level, and young. Okorie needs to better than that to be worth it. Tbh if we had just kept our original selection in Lopez, he had a more clear line to playing time as a back up 4 than Okorie does currently. Trajan needs Okorie to pretty much be a maxey level find or he threw Stew and draft assets in the trash for a guy who doesn't have a clear path to minutes
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u/Dabeastfeast11 14h ago
Daniss is on an expiring and is 6 years older than okorie and probably around his ceiling. Okorie shows way more promise and is on a rookie deal for 4 years. Daniss isn't a long term solution. No serious contender would have him starting
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u/burnn_out313 Bill Laimbeer 14h ago
You're not wrong but it still stands that Daniss is right there. It's not like Daniss is going to command much unless he finds another gear which despite his age is possible as it's only his 2nd season. Okorie looks premium but he legit needs to be or else it's a problem. Maybe I'm alone on this and I know Stew wanted out but Stew and draft assets probably sounds pretty enticing to a solid amount of teams. The value coming back is Okorie.
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u/Low_Frosting3918 Jaden Ivey 14h ago
Stew brought us Collins, Prince, and Harris.
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u/burnn_out313 Bill Laimbeer 14h ago
Huh? Collins was a FA unless I missed something and his money more or less is/was Harris's money. We traded stew for picks then traded those picks back with our 21st pick for Okorie iirc. Lavert w/ 2nds was how we acquired Prince and Harris although it's hard to keep track with whether those were the 2nds we got from the griz but I thought we sent those back to move up.
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u/Low_Frosting3918 Jaden Ivey 13h ago
Collins was a FA, but it was all put together as a 6 team trade. LeVert was apart of it too. We only traded 2nd rd picks to move up along with the 21st.
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u/burnn_out313 Bill Laimbeer 12h ago
Yes but weren't the 2nds the ones we acquired by trading Stewart? It's kinda convoluted but we traded Stew for 3 2nds then traded those 2nds back to the griz plus 21 for 17? So we gave them 3 2nds and the 21st pick for the 17th but those 3 picks were essentially Stewart. Griz got Stew and the 21st pick for 17, No?
IK it was worded as a 6 team trade but I'm confused as to how besides timing the other squads are involved as far as Stewart / Okorie
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u/Ok-Confucious1642 6h ago
Yes you’re correct. Other guys is trying to do what this sub constantly does and make up trade values for trades that were viewed as losses for Detroit. Lmao at him attributing nearly the entire offseason having been gotten all just for Stew. He May as well have just thrown Joe in there too
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u/WhiteCastleHo Ausar Thompson 14h ago
Lopez has averaged like 2 points per game in the preseason.
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u/burnn_out313 Bill Laimbeer 14h ago
I understand that sentiment but my statement still stands. Lopez plays a position we lack depth at and brought something the team lacks in size. Okorie plays a position we have depth at. Okorie has looked vastly better but it's preseason in their rookie year.
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u/Low_Frosting3918 Jaden Ivey 13h ago
I'm just assuming you're not a fan of him. Be patient, the body contortion at the rim, he finishes at a high rate, he can score from all-3 levels. He hasn't played against opposing teams starters in the preseason so I get that it doesn't look like its going to translate but eventually it will.
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