It’s only taken 53 minutes for Ebuka Okorie to prove himself as one of the — if not the — biggest steals from the 2026 NBA Draft.
There were plenty of couch critics who had something negative to say about Detroit picking Okorie in the first round at No. 17 overall, but after 53 minutes of preseason action, the Stanford guard is looking like the exact opposite of a reach.
The Pistons may have been gifted a future star at No. 17.
In Okorie’s first preseason game on Oct. 5, he scored seven points in 10 minutes and went 3-for-4 from the floor. He followed that up with a 14-point, six-assist outing in 27 minutes of a losing effort against the Wizards but then immediately saw his minutes slashed.
The Stanford rookie has played a total of 16 minutes over the past two preseason games but it’s the production that’s come with that limited action that’s left everyone buzzing.
Okorie has 20 points in his past 16 minutes of action, shooting 7-for-9 from the floor, 1-for-2 from deep to go along with three assists, two steals, and just one turnover. He’s been dominant on the offensive end when he’s on the floor and that needs to continue. The Pistons need more true scorers and so far, Okorie is proving to be just that.
His highlights had Pistons Twitter basically drooling on Friday night.
Okorie was frying pic.twitter.com/AQilqvPYsk
— Brett Usher (@UsherNBA) October 17, 2026
Some fans were calling him Kyrie Irving 2.0 (no, definitely not an overreaction) and others were begging for J.B. Bickerstaff to put him in that regular rotation once the season starts.
Fair or not, there are already calls for Daniss Jenkins’ backup point guard job.
But hey, that’s what happens when you have the steal of the draft on your team.
Ebuka Okorie will be impossible to keep on the bench
Aaron Kellerstrass of Piston Powered said it best: Okorie is making life difficult for Bickerstaff much earlier than anyone expected.
There was always going to be talk about Okorie taking over someone’s role in the backcourt (namely Jenkins), no one could have expected that it would come before the first game of the regular season. It’s hard to not put stock in Okorie’s preseason play because he’s been a fantastic shot creator and scorer and he’s doing it efficiently.
Okorie is shooting 16-for-28 (57 percent) from the floor and he has 10 assists to four turnovers. He needs to work on his 3-point shooting (2-for-8) but his ability to craft his way to the basket is going to make him an impossible player to keep on the bench.
If the Pistons are struggling to get a bucket, putting Okorie in the game feels like an instant scoring boost. His defense needs to be on a similar level because then he’ll never leave the floor.
Bickerstaff is going to have a big decision to make soon.
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