During the summer, the Detroit Pistons made a handful of moves on the trade market bring some new players into the Motor City , and superstar point guard Cade Cunningham is wasting little time in becoming acquainted with his new teammates.
Shortly after the 2026 NBA Draft, the Pistons agreed to trade Caris LeVert to the Milwaukee Bucks in exchange for Taurean Prince and Gary Harris as part of a deal that was later included in a massive six-team swap. Both longtime NBA vets, Prince and Harris should bring some consistent outside shooting to Motown this season, but they are two players that are primarily expected to contribute on the second unit since Detroit is only replacing their starting power forward this summer.
But before we have a chance to see how their fit plays out on the Pistons during the 2026-27 campaign, Cunningham suited up with Prince for an open gym run that had both Ausar and Amen Thompson , Cam Boozer and Tre Donaldson in attendance, and the Detroit contingent represented themselves well considering it's summertime. As one would expect, the trio of Cunningham, Ausar and Prince were situated on one squad with Amen, Boozer and Donaldson teaming up on the other side for a bit of four-on-four action, but it was a relaxed workout that still offered a chance to stay sharp against quality competition.
As far as the Detroit group is concerned, Cunningham looked in control for the duration of the run and was able to break down his defender to access the second level and make plays from the elbow with ease. Cunningham hit a few three-pointers in the video, but a lot of his action was designed to set Prince up with open looks so that he can get used to the spots that Cade likes to operate from. Together, the pair flowed in and out of perimeter sets well, which was a good preview for how they'll interact on the court this season with Prince likely chipping in at the two and the three.
From a shooting perspective, Prince looked smooth beyond the arc and in the mid-range and found the bottom of the net on a litany of buckets. Prince was comfortable improvising on the wing when a play broke down, but his reliable shot was a handy trick to fall back on for the 10-year pro who should contribute on the second unit to start the season.
As for Thompson, the Secretary of Defense in Detroit had an exciting performance that showed a glimpse of all the work he's put in this offseason. As a ball handler, Thompson was both assertive and slick with the rock when put in a playmaker's role, and he found his shot with pull-up mid-range looks or corner three-pointers on multiple occasions, so it was good to see AT contribute from the perimeter in the workout.
Even though Thompson is such an accomplished on-ball defender, his offensive effectiveness still leaves a bit to be desired. Last season, Thompson only knocked down his triples at a 25% rate, so he really needs to become more of a consistent threat from the outside moving forward or else teams are going to continue to leave him open like during Detroit's last playoff run, though his shot looked good in this offseason workout.
