NBA Rumors: Detroit Piston's Stanley Johnson May Not Play for The Summer League Games

In a recent press conference this week, reporters pressed Detroit rookie Stanley Johnson on what his participation will in the upcoming annual Pro Summer League in Orlando this July. He jokingly retorted that the franchise might not let him play.

Apparently, his statement wasn't a joke after all. Johnson will probably not benefit anything from the summer league. After completing his rookie season with the team, his focus will be getting as much from drills and other team workouts.

For quite some time, there have been rumors about the Pistons quite against sending the rookie off to join the summer league this offseason. Pistons President and head coach Stan Van Gundy indicated that Johnson needs a more productive summer dedicated to developing his rookie skills into full-blown mature player on the hardcourt. And just recently, he said that Johnson's live basketball participation will be restricted to training with his boys at Detroit.

"I don't even want him playing, quite honestly. I want him to stay away from the Drew League, and playing one-on-one with his boys, and all of that. Because with him, I know what happens is he wants to win that game, he wants to show well in that game. That's great," said Van Gundy as quoted by MLive.

"But what that does is drive you right back to your strengths and playing the way you've always played, and he needs to change his approach in the offseason and really, really pay attention to his skills."

Furthermore, Van Gundy seems to have a good grasp as to how Johnson's untamed competitive nature may go against developing his skills to a more team-oriented and flexible gameplay. As a one-and-done college basketball player, the 19-year-old Johnson looks promising but there are still a number of holes in the games that need some fixing including his streaky shooting tendencies and right-hand dominance.

"My concern for him is I know Stanley's mentality. I want him working on things he needs to work on. I don't want to put him in situations where his concern is doing what he can do well right now to try to win that game," remarked Van Gundy in a press conference this week as reported by Detroit Free Press.

"We've been through a season of that, and he has great strengths: his competitiveness, his defense, being able to guard multiple positions and all of that. This is a skill-development summer, and what we'll have to decide (is) ... if that's something that's going to aid in his skill development or not."

Van Gundy's decision on Johnson's schedule this summer pretty much reflects his desire to add depth to Pistons' amateurish gameplay. In his second year at Detroit, Van Gundy initiated a renaissance in an attempt to nab a better Eastern Conference position and end the playoff drought since 2009. For the Detroit head coach and president, the summer league was no longer about working on skills. Instead it has become a showing-off contest.

"The never-ending abyss of constant runs, challenges, and one-upmanship is a symptom of the modern amateur basketball landscape, centered on reputation, rankings, and constant visibility. The result is a frequently short term approach in which prospects concern themselves with climbing the media rankings ladder as opposed to fleshing out a well-rounded game," wrote Ryan Van Dusen of Detroit Sports Nation.