Detroit Pistons guard Daniss Jenkins (24) drives against New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Feb. 6, 2026, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)AP
Ausar Thompson really knew Daniss Jenkins would be a special player when the then-rookie guard was tasked with emulating Jalen Brunson for the Detroit Pistons’ practice scout of last year’s playoff opponents, the New York Knicks.
There was a fearlessness and a speed to what Jenkins could bring on the court, something not reminiscent of an undrafted guard fighting his way into the NBA on a two-way contract.
“I was guarding him, trying to pick him up full court and he’s just running super fast. It was more like a John Wall scout,” Thompson said. “That’s the moment that stuck with me that I will never forget, because I was like, ‘Yo, this guy is fast.’”
In his first season, Jenkins played just seven NBA games, getting a few minutes here or there at the end of a blowout while getting most of his play time in the G League.
After a year spent improving and building trust with his coaches and teammates, Jenkins is now a critical part of the Pistons’ rotation and made the next step in his NBA career as he reportedly signed a two-year deal with the Pistons on Sunday that converts him to a standard contract player.
“Kudos to him. He’s worked his butt off all last season playing a ton of games for Motor City,” Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon said Friday. “We saw his improvement during the year...and he just continued to improve, working not only with his own trainers, but with our staff and with his teammates through the summer. He had a great camp and he’s just continued his trajectory on getting better when the opportunities came, he’s taken advantage of it.
Jenkins’ winding path to the NBA is something coach J.B. Bickerstaff truly admires about the 24-year-old. The Pistons are full of elite talent who were considered future stars on top AAU teams or went to well-regarded prep schools and colleges before reaching the NBA, that wasn’t how Jenkins made it.
“There’s a confidence to him, and you gotta have that to survive,” Bickerstaff said in November. “You look at his story and how he had to beat and defy so many odds to even get to this point and all you want to do is root for him. There’s a maturity to him and an understanding of ‘When I get my moment, how am I going to be ready for it?’ And the work that he’s put in and his attitude has allowed him to excel.”
— Jacob Richman (@JacobHRichman) [February 7, 2026](https://twitter.com/JacobHRichman/status/2019988209891975485?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
Jenkins went to Hillcrest High School, a mid-sized public school in North Dallas, which hadn’t seen a former player reach the NBA since Kurt Thomas in the 1990s.
While Detroit teammates like Cade Cunningham (Arlington Bowie) and Marcus Sasser (Red Oak) were going from the D-FW area to top college programs in Oklahoma State and Houston around the same time, Jenkins was rarely viewed beyond a junior college prospect.
He spent two years at Pacific before transferring to Odessa College and becoming a JUCO All-American. He caught the eye of legendary coach Rick Pitino, who brought him to Iona in 2022 and had him follow to St. John’s for his final season.
It was five seasons of college basketball, two under Pitino, that made Jenkins mature beyond the typical player entering the NBA.
“I think it’s easier for those guys to see those things kind of developing because they do have so much basketball experience,” Bickerstaff said. “He’s continued to become a better basketball player, but being coached in college matters.”
Jenkins posted nearly 15 points and 5.4 assists in his final college season, but it wasn’t enough to get him drafted in 2024. Another D-FW product, Ron Holland, went to the Pistons with the fifth overall pick.
That was where the enormous chip on Jenkins’ shoulder was truly created. He couldn’t fathom why 58 players heard their names called and instead he signed a two-way deal with Detroit.
“What was the difference between me and them? Y’all tell me, what was the difference? For me, going undrafted, that’s insanity to me,” Jenkins said Friday. “Like, literally insanity. And that burns inside of me every single day.
“That took something away from me.”
Even when nobody else believed it, Jenkins says he was confident there wasn’t a good reason for him to have gone undrafted. It was up to him to prove it.
As he began to showcase in the NBA Summer League and beyond, he’s made a lot of believers in and out of the Detroit locker room.
“He is one of those guys who feels like he’s the best player on the floor any night and that’s rare to have that in a two-way,” Pistons teammate Caris LeVert told MLive. “It’s rare to have that and actually it might be the case. A lot of guys have delusional confidence, but they’re not really at that level. (Jenkins) is at that level and I think people are starting to see it.”
Jenkins was going to receive more opportunity in 2025, but it was hard to know it would get to the point where he was starting amid a franchise-record 13-game winning streak.
Injuries across the roster opened up the opportunity and Jenkins, more than anyone, seized his chance and averaged 20.2 points and 7.6 assists across a five-game stretch that served as his breakout.
His minutes waned at times when players came back into the rotation, but by January it was undeniable that he was firmly part of Detroit’s Eastern Conference-leading unit.
Not only was he getting priority minutes off the bench with the second unit, he became a running mate for Cunningham down the stretch when the Pistons have needed a boost on offense.
Bickerstaff likes how many different things the offense can do with both of them on the court. Jenkins’ ability to push tempo and take the ball up the floor can help accomplish something difficult — hiding Cunningham.
“It allows their defense to have to transition back at a pace and then they’ve got to go find a matchup,” Bickerstaff said last month. “And now a guy like Cade can get lost in the shuffle and create something versus a shifted defense or a closeout instead of always having to be in one-on-one situations.”
Cunningham attracts double teams at one of the highest rates in the league and as the only player on the Pistons averaging over 20 points per game and leading the NBA in assists, opposing teams know the ball is going to get to him at some point.
But having someone beside him to play on and off the ball with the ability to ratchet up the intensity serves to open Cunningham up considerably more. The Pistons are +10.4 in NET rating when both players are on the court and -1.9 when both are off.
And Cunningham loves playing beside such a versatile player.
“He’s a dog and he’s from Texas, so it’s a lot of fun,” Cunningham said.
The two-way era of Jenkins’ career is now over. He’s put pen to paper and will play out the rest of this season and potentially longer for the Pistons as a standard contract player.
According to multiple reports, the deal is for two years, with the second being a team option for 2026-27 using part of Detroit’s bi-annual exception to take on what should be a deal worth more than a prorated minimum.
Jenkins’ confidence has been rewarded with a chance at more in the NBA. While it’s a feel-good story around Detroit basketball, it’s just validation of something Jenkins has known for a long time — he belongs.
“As far as proving myself that I’m an NBA player, I knew it from the first Summer League,” Jenkins said. “And I still stand by that to this day, because I knew we would get to here.”