{"id":973663,"date":"2026-08-01T14:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/973663\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T14:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T14:26:15","slug":"central-notes-pistons-ranking-thompson-jones-hezonja-smith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/973663\/","title":{"rendered":"Central Notes: Pistons Ranking, Thompson, Jones, Hezonja, Smith"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"byline\">\n  By <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hoopsrumors.com\/author\/dana-gauruder\" title=\"Posts by Dana Gauruder\" rel=\"author nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dana Gauruder<\/a> |<br \/>\n  at August 1, 2026 8:44 am  <\/p>\n<p>The Eastern Conference looks a lot stronger than it did a year ago. So where do the <strong>Pistons,<\/strong> who had the best record in the conference last season, currently stack up against their peers?<\/p>\n<p>Assuming they re-sign restricted free agent <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/durenja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-08-01_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jalen Duren<\/a><\/strong>, they should remain competitive within the conference, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7476607\/2026\/07\/31\/jalen-duren-pistons-offseason-nba-eastern-conference\/?unlocked_article_code=1.11A.gcKi.kNDJ_Kl8oD77\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Hunter Patterson of The Athletic<\/a> writes. Patterson ranks them fourth behind the Knicks, Sixers and Heat.<\/p>\n<p>Patterson believes the team\u2019s growth hinges on the continued development of defensive stalwart <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompau01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-08-01_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ausar Thompson<\/a><\/strong>. If Thompson can score around 15 points per game and initiate offense more consistently without compromising his defensive impact, that would raise Detroit\u2019s ceiling.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s more from the Central Division:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"longlis\">\n<li>Forward <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jonesis01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-08-01_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Isaac Jones<\/a><\/strong> averaged 14.8 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.0 blocks and 1.0 steals through five games in the Las Vegas Summer League. The <strong>Pistons\u2019 t<\/strong>wo-way player is now aiming for a standard contract, he told <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/story\/sports\/nba\/pistons\/2026\/07\/31\/isaac-jones-determined-to-return-to-standard-deal-pistons-offseason-diary\/91105803007\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Coty Davis of the Detroit News<\/a>. He was claimed off waivers from Sacramento in November. \u201cThis offseason is different because I have to earn my spot again. I don\u2019t want to be on a two-way forever, and I feel like this has lit a fire under me,\u201d he said. \u201cLast summer, I was on a standard deal. I had a fire then, but now it has grown because I know I am an NBA player. I am blessed for my time in Sacramento, but having to leave midseason and come here was a blessing in disguise.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hezonma01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-08-01_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Mario Hezonja<\/a><\/strong> returned to the NBA from Europe by <a target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hoopsrumors.com\/2026\/07\/mario-hezonja-will-return-to-nba-with-cavaliers.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">signing<\/a> a one-year, $2.85MM contract with the <strong>Cavaliers<\/strong>. The veteran forward expressed his joy in a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/mariohezonja\/status\/2083242148854439986\" rel=\"nofollow\">social media post<\/a> on Twitter, stating \u201cNever liked how I left the NBA but these past 5 years have been exactly what I wanted and much needed! I am super happy that my new chapter is with @cavs a team and organization that I have always admired and respected!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>The<strong> Pacers<\/strong> are close to the first tax apron and have one roster spot open. Should they use it to second-round pick <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smithbr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=www.hoopsrumors.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-08-01_bbr\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Braden Smith<\/a><\/strong>, who remains unsigned? <a target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/tonyeast\/2026\/07\/31\/does-it-make-sense-for-the-indiana-pacers-to-fill-15th-roster-spot\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Tony East of Forbes.com<\/a> explores that question, noting that the Pacers currently don\u2019t have an open two-way spot for Smith. If they choose to sign Smith to a two-way deal, Ethan\u00a0 Thompson is the most likely candidate to lose his spot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Dana Gauruder | at August 1, 2026 8:44 am The Eastern Conference looks a lot stronger than&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":973664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[45995,34505,55115,138356,390796,1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-973663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ausar-thompson","tag-braden-smith","tag-isaac-jones","tag-jalen-duren","tag-mario-hezonja","tag-nba","tag-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117020720338120298","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=973663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/973663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/973664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=973663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=973663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=973663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}