The Detroit Pistons aggressively pursued Ebuka Okorie in the 2026 NBA Draft. Moving up a couple of slots to ensure they landed their preferred prospect, the Pistons have a ton of expectations from the former Stanford standout. Pistons fans got the chance to see what the front office saw in the 19-year-old point guard in the Summer League.
It's important not to overreact to the Summer League. It is a very different environment from the NBA. Players who aren't very familiar with each other are thrown onto the same team and are expected to perform. So, everything one sees in the Summer League games should be taken with a grain of salt.
Yet, there are still lessons one can take away from these games. For Okorie, the three games he has played so far have highlighted a couple of important weaknesses.
Ebuka Okorie needs to get stronger and make better decisions on his drives
The talented point guard struggled against size and physicality in Las Vegas. This was made obvious in his drives and attempts to finish inside the paint. Okorie was consistently bumped off his drives and wasn't allowed to get to his spots. When in traffic, he wasn't able to hit shots over his defenders, partly because he was off balance and partly because of his poor shot selection.
The good thing is that a lot of these issues are relatively easy fixes. Yes, Okorie will always be undersized at six-foot-two, but he can and will get stronger. Once he adds more muscle to his frame, he will be harder to push around.
As important as strength is his decision-making. Okorie struggled with shot selection, which resulted in missing a lot of layups and floaters. Instead of trying to go all the way to the rim and finish in traffic, Okorie needs to get better at taking mid-rangers or passing the ball. At times, he seemed surprised by the length around the basket, getting blocked several times and having to alter his shot at the rim.
This will get better as he adjusts to the NBA size and length. He will learn to slow down and make better rim reads. He is an undersized point guard with a slight frame, with one year of college basketball experience, who doesn't turn 20 until the end of his rookie season.
Despite the clear areas of improvement, Okorie showed plenty of flashes. He was largely unstoppable in his drives. He touched the paint and got to the basket at will. Most defenders struggled to stay in front of Okorie, whose handle looked very tight. He had very few turnovers compared to how often he had the ball in his hands. His on-ball dynamism and craft were on full display, which is more important than any of the aforementioned negatives.
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