Chaz Lanier gave the Detroit Pistons another reminder of why they view him as a potential answer to their 3-point needs, scoring 25 points in Sunday’s 103-94 Summer League win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Lanier got hot early and finished with five 3-pointers, giving Detroit the kind of perimeter production it has been searching for this offseason. The Pistons entered the summer trying to improve their shooting, and Lanier’s performance stood out because it came in exactly the area the roster has been trying to address.
That matters because Detroit’s outside shooting last season was near the bottom of the league by the numbers cited around the team’s offseason focus. The Pistons ranked 20th in 3-point percentage at 35.7 percent and took just 31.3 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. In other words, the need is clear.
Lanier keeps showing the same skill set
Lanier was the No. 37 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and his appeal has been tied to his shotmaking from the start. He was a 39.5 percent 3-point shooter on 8.2 attempts per game, and Sunday’s game offered another example of why Detroit believes that profile can translate.
After the win, Lanier said he wanted to stay aggressive and do what he had to do for the team. He also said those were shots he works on every day, so it was good to see them go in.
That confidence has been part of the conversation around him for a while. On March 1, J.B. Bickerstaff said Lanier is an NBA player and expected him to be part of what the Pistons are doing longterm. Bickerstaff also pointed to Lanier’s shotmaking and his ability to understand where to be on the floor, especially when playing with a creator like Cade Cunningham.
For Detroit, that combination is the point. The Pistons do not need Lanier to create everything himself. They need him to space the floor, move into open areas and punish defenses when the ball finds him.
Why this performance matters for Detroit
The Pistons had other positives around the roster last season, but the lack of reliable outside shooting remained an issue. That is why Lanier’s early production in Las Vegas matters beyond a single Summer League box score. It reinforces the idea that Detroit may already have a young wing who fits the kind of offense the team wants to build.
Bickerstaff even suggested that there could be a night, this year or next year, when Lanier scores 30-something points while barely dribbling the ball. That is the kind of role Detroit is projecting for him: not a high-usage creator, but a sharp shooter who can make defenses pay quickly.
For now, Lanier’s latest performance gives the Pistons another encouraging sign in a summer centered on improvement from the perimeter. If he keeps making shots like this, Detroit’s search for shooting may already have one promising answer.
