The Pistons' season might not be over.
The NBA is reportedly aiming to send a second bubble of teams to Chicago in September, this one comprised of the eight clubs that were left out of the return-to-play plan slated to start next month in Orlando. It would include mini-training camps and eventually games between the teams on site, according to ESPN's Jackie MacMullan.
The NBA is closing in on signing off on a second “bubble” in Chicago for the eight teams that were not invited to play in Orlando, enabling mini-training camps and subsequent games against other clubs with a target date of September, sources tell ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn)
July 2, 2020 In addition to the Pistons, the teams included would be the Hawks, Hornets, Bulls, Cavaliers, Warriors, Timberwolves and Knicks. This is something Pistons coach Dwane Casey has lobbied for since it was announced the NBA would resume its season with the top 24 teams in the league.
"If they don’t bring us back, I just hope they will give us the opportunity to practice, to work these next few weeks while those teams are competing down in Orlando, because I think it’d be terrible for us to be off from March 11 to (potentially December)," Casey
told 97.1 The Ticket. "That’s going to put as at an unfair disadvantage to be able to come back and compete, so hopefully they allow us training camp."
If the Pistons do resume play, it would likely give Blake Griffin and Luke Kennard a chance to get back on the floor. Kennard, who had been sidelined due to knee tendinitis, was set to return just as the season went on pause. And Griffin is
nearing 100 percent as he recovers from knee surgery.
Casey
said in May that "there is a goal for us to get Luke as many minutes as he can get" if the Pistons play again this season.
