Fifty-eight players heard their names called in the 2024 NBA Draft. Daniss Jenkins wasn’t one of them. On Sunday night in Philadelphia, he played 38 minutes as a starter on the road, and helped the Pistons beat the previously unbeaten 76ers 106-93 for their first 3-0 start since 2008. Detroit did it without Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, and the guy who filled the biggest hole is the one nobody drafted.
Undrafted Guard Daniss Jenkins: 18, 8 and 6 on the Road
Jenkins started in place of Ausar Thompson, who has a right ankle sprain, and finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists on 6-of-11 shooting, including 3-of-4 from three, per NBC Sports. The last one put the game away. With Philadelphia trying to climb back in the fourth quarter, Kevin Huerter found Jenkins for the dagger. Detroit opened the game on a 15-1 run, led 34-22 after one quarter and outrebounded the Sixers by 17 without its starting center. Cade Cunningham scored 26, Duncan Robinson hit five threes for 21 points, and John Collins had 16 points and 11 rebounds. The Sixers were without Joel Embiid, who rested, and VJ Edgecombe, though they still had LeBron James, Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey, who scored 29.
This Wasn’t a Fluke: Detroit Was 14-5 With Jenkins Starting
Here’s what the raw numbers on Sunday hide. This isn’t new. Last season Jenkins played 72 games, started 19 and averaged 9.3 points in 20 minutes, and Detroit went 14-5 in the games he started, when he averaged 17.2 points and 7.4 assists. In January, he scored 25 against Cleveland, including 21 in the second quarter on 7-for-7 shooting, the second-most points in a quarter in franchise history behind Will Bynum’s 26. As Heavy noted in June, he also had a full season and a playoff run under his belt. So when the Pistons say they have depth, it isn’t a slogan. They’ve seen it work.
Four Schools, Zero Draft Picks
The path was never smooth. Jenkins went from Pacific to Odessa College to Iona to St. John’s, where he was an All-Big East second-team pick averaging 14.9 points and 5.4 assists. He went undrafted in 2024, which he later called “insanity,” and he signed a two-way deal, played seven NBA games as a rookie, averaged 3.3 minutes in them and spent the year in the G League, where he made the All-Rookie team averaging 18.5 points and 6.2 assists. Detroit converted him to a standard two-year contract in February. Thompson said he knew Jenkins would be special when he was asked to imitate Jalen Brunson in a practice scout of the Knicks. It looked, Thompson said, more like John Wall.
Why It Matters With Duren Out
Duren will miss at least two weeks with a strained right hamstring he suffered in Miami on Friday, and Thompson’s ankle is on the injury report too. For a team that has to wait on both, Jenkins is the most important man in the building. He had three points and four fouls in the opener, 15 points in 22 minutes against the Heat, then 18 in 38 on Sunday. That’s what a coach does when he trusts someone.
Every contender talks about depth. Detroit just beat an unbeaten team on the road with undrafted guard Daniss Jenkins starting, closing and shooting 3-of-4 from three. That’s not a talking point. That’s a roster.
Undrafted Guard Daniss Jenkins Just Made Detroit’s Depth Look Very Real