The Detroit Pistons improved to 2-0 in the Las Vegas portion of the NBA Summer League with Sunday's 98-83 win over the Houston Rockets. The Pistons led by 13 points after the first quarter and never looked back as the franchise's future put on a defensive performance to remember, leaving time to tell if they will extend their momentum when they face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday.
Winning in basketball requires a team effort, and Detroit's latest summertime win wasn't an exception. Having said that, one young Piston's performance played a bigger role than others in the win, all while potentially putting one of his teammates on notice.
Pistons' Daniss Jenkins Puts Marcus Sasser on Notice with Summer League Performance
Undrafted guard Daniss Jenkins has been having a strong Summer League performance, and Sunday's showing was the latest example. The Rockets couldn't stop the former St. John's product as Jenkins scored a game-high 23 points while shooting 7-of-10 from the floor and 3-of-4 from three-point range, adding six assists, two rebounds, a pair of steals, and a block in 23 minutes of work.
That's a massive improvement for a player who only averaged 1.0 PPG with a 30.0 FG% and 14.3 3P% in seven games with the Pistons last season.
Including Sunday's performance, the 6-foot-3 guard is now averaging 20.5 points, 4.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 steals, 1.5 blocks, 3.0 threes made, and .667/.667/1.000 shooting splits through two games. If he can maintain his momentum, there's a good chance that Jenkins might put fellow Pistons guard Marcus Sasser on notice.
Although Sasser hasn't been awful since the Pistons drafted him 25th overall in 2023, he hasn't made himself untouchable, either. The ex-Houston Cougar made some improvements in 2024-25 compared to his rookie year; however, he didn't exactly send any messages by averaging 6.6 points, 2.3 assists, 1.2 rebounds, and .463/.382/.843 splits in 57 games (1 star).
Sasser is a solid ball-handler who can also be defensively reliable at times, but his offensive ceiling might limit how far he can rise in head coach J.B. Bickerstaff's lineup. If Jenkins continues to average 20-plus PPG throughout the summer, Bickerstaff might have no choice but to consider giving some of Sasser's minutes to Jenkins, especially if the latter can significantly raise the bench's scoring potential.
With more NBA Summer League action on the horizon, Pistons fans will want to closely follow Jenkins to see what he does next. Keeping his foot on the gas pedal could have big implications on Detroit's 2025-26 roster, specifically where Sasser is concerned.