The Pistons finished last season as the top seed in the Eastern Conference and their franchise player, Cade Cunningham, is taking extra steps aimed at keeping his club among the league’s elite. Cunningham is leading a player-run mini-camp in San Diego this week, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin tweets.

Detroit didn’t make a blockbuster deal this offseason, though it did add power forward John Collins in a sign-and-trade and also acquired guard Isaiah Joe from the Thunder. The standoff between the front office and restricted free agent center Jalen Duren remains unresolved.

Here’s more from the Eastern Conference:

• The addition of Klay Thompson still doesn’t resolve all the issues surrounding the Heat, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel writes. They could use another play-maker and shot creator, as well as another frontcourt contributor. Miami can fill its last two roster openings with players on veteran’s minimum deals. They’ll also have to figure out whether Thompson will come off the bench or replace Pelle Larsson, who started 54 games last season, in the lineup. The perimeter rotation is also in flux.
• Nikola Vucevic, who signed with the Magic on a one-year deal this summer, believes the Celtics were hamstrung last season by the contracts of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Sportando relays. The veteran big man made his comments to SKWEEK. “I think there were some signs, mostly because the big contracts and the NBA’s new rules made it difficult for them to build the team,” he said. “With Tatum and Brown both on such big contracts, it wasn’t easy to fit the rest of the team around those two.” Vucevic was still surprised Brown was dealt to Philadelphia after the season. The veteran center played 16 games with Boston on an expiring deal after being acquired from Chicago in February.
• The Cavaliers sent out $4.35MM to the Hornets and $3MM to the Wizards as part of the complex five-team trade that brought restricted free agent Peyton Watson to Cleveland, Bleacher Report’s Eric Pincus tweets. The former Nuggets wing reportedly received a four-year, $88MM deal from the Cavaliers that includes a fourth-year player option and a 7.5% trade kicker.