Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández believes River Plate teenage sensation Franco Mastantuono is destined to play in Europe.

Considered among the most promising talents in Argentina, the 17-year-old attacking midfielder is a reported target of top European clubs, including Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea.

"He's showing that he has a European future," Fernández told ESPN F 12 of Mastantuono. "You can see it."

Fernández, a youth product of River Plate, is closely following Mastantuono's progress.

Mastantuono gained promotion to River's first team in January 2024.

The Argentina under-20 player has scored three goals and set up two more in 12 appearances across all competitions for River this season.

"He's an incredible player," Fernández said. "He's doing very well and has shown great talent. In my opinion, he's a star. I wish him the best and hope he can achieve all his goals. Hopefully he can also help us in the national team."

Mastantuono, who will turn 18 in August, has a contract with River until December 2027 and has a release clause set at 45 million ($51m).

Jamie Vardy will leave Leicester City at the end of the season, the already-relegated Premier League club confirmed on Thursday.

Vardy, 38, has painted himself into Leicester folklore during his 13 years leading the line, scoring 198 goals in 495 appearances and playing a pivotal role in a miraculous Premier League title triumph in 2016.

The England international has also collected an FA Cup, Community Shield and two Championship titles with the Foxes, and has been hailed as their "greatest-ever player" in a club statement.

"I've been here so long that I truly never thought it would end, so this has not only been really difficult for me to write but also a really difficult decision to make," Vardy said in a video published on his social media.

"Leicester City has been my second home and my extended family and my life for 13 years. The club, the city, the people mean so much to me and my family. It's a place that has shaped the lives of our kids who have been so lucky to call Leicester home for so long. But for me the time has come to say goodbye."

Vardy's last campaign with Leicester hasn't been a memorable one, with the club's relegation already confirmed. Ruud van Nistelrooy's side sit 19th with just 18 points, and Vardy's last game for the club will be on May 18 against Ipswich Town.

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He insists he is not yet calling time on his career.

"My only regret, and I'm devastated about this, is that I'm not saying farewell to you [the fans] on the back of a much better season," Vardy added. "This isn't the way I wanted my career here to finish.

"This isn't retirement. I want to keep playing and doing my enjoy most: Scoring goals. Hopefully there are a few more for Leicester between now and the end of the season and many more in the future. I might be 38 but I still have the desire and ambition to achieve so much more."

Vardy has scored just seven goals for Leicester this season, with his best campaign for the club coming in 2015-16 when he struck up a superb relationship with Riyad Mahrez on the way to a shock league title. Leicester were 5000-1 outsiders heading into the season.

"Jamie is unique," stated Leicester City Chairman Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha. "He is a special player and an even more special person. He holds a place in the hearts of everyone connected to Leicester City, and he certainly has my deepest respect and affection.

"On behalf of everyone at Leicester City, I wish Jamie and his family the very best for the future and I know our supporters will join us in giving him the send-off he deserves at the end of this season."

Miami quarterback Cam Ward is a big favorite to be the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, and odds-on favorites also have emerged at picks two through five at sportsbooks around the nation.

Ward entered Thursday as a -20,000 favorite to be the top pick owned by the Tennessee Titans at ESPN BET. Colorado's Travis Hunter is the favorite (-5,000) to go second, followed by Penn State's Abdul Carter (-700) at No. 3, LSU's Will Campbell (-700) at No. 4, and Boise State's Ashton Jeanty (-230) at No. 5.

Ward opened as a 7-1 underdog to the No. 1 pick when odds were first posted in November, behind Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Hunter. Ward leapfrogged Colorado's two stars during the college football season, becoming the favorite to be the top pick in early January. His odds jumped to -1000 in late March and then to -20,000 and shorter last week. Caleb Williams, last year's top pick, also was a -20,000 favorite to go No. 1.

"Everything the Titans have hinted at over the past few months suggests that Cam Ward is their guy, and this is why we are offering -50,000 on Cam Ward to go No. 1 overall in the draft," Joey Feazel, head of football trading at Caesars Sportsbook, said.

Sanders opened as the favorite to be this year's No. 1 pick, but the over/under on his draft position dropped significantly Wednesday at sportsbooks, moving from 9.5 to 21.5.

Skepticism in the media about the New Orleans Saints taking Sanders with the ninth pick, rather than an influx of bets, drove the shift in odds, sportsbooks said. The Pittsburgh Steelers own the 21st pick. Sanders remains the favorite to be the second quarterback picked in the draft, at -200 at ESPN BET.

The countdown is on for the 2025 NFL draft. It's time for my one and only mock draft, where I project Round 1. As always, this isn't what I would do if I were the general manager for every team -- it's how I'd sort through the top 32 picks based on what I'm hearing from my sources around the league.

Round 1 begins Thursday (8 p.m. ET on ESPN, ABC, ESPN App), and you can catch me throughout the weekend from Green Bay. Let's get to the picks, where I'm projecting two trades -- one in the top 10 and one in the mid-20s. Here we go:

Jump to a team's first-round pick:
ARI | ATL | BAL | BUF | CAR | CHI | CIN
CLE | DAL | DEN | DET | GB | HOU | IND
JAX | KC | LAC | LAR | LV | MIA | MIN
NE | NO | NYG | NYJ | PHI | PIT | SF
SEA | TB | TEN | WSH

1. Tennessee Titans

Cam Ward, QB, Miami

Ward has aced this process, and the Titans' brass is quite excited about not only the player but the person and leader they're getting. It's a new day in Tennessee.

2. Cleveland Browns

Travis Hunter, WR/CB, Colorado

This is a fun one. I'm hearing there are a few teams that have been making calls to get to No. 2. We might hear more of this in the next 24 hours.

Hunter can be an elite defensive back from the get-go, but he also has the potential to be a top wide receiver. He's perhaps the rarest prospect we've seen in years. The Browns can -- and will -- consider using him on both sides of the ball. Coach Kevin Stefanski & Co. will get the very best out of him on offense.

3. New York Giants

Abdul Carter, Edge, Penn State

A few days ago, it sounded as if it was Carter or Hunter, but the Giants are having fluid conversations all week. I could imagine a host of teams calling if Carter is not a slam dunk.

In the end, the Giants passed on Micah Parsons in 2021, instead trading down and taking wide receiver Kadarius Toney. I can't see them passing on another star pass rusher from Penn State.

4. New England Patriots

Will Campbell, OT, LSU

Campbell is smart, tough, dependable and a leader in a position of great need. He might not be built like Hall of Famer Orlando Pace, but the Patriots would be getting a day one starter and a culture guy on their offensive line.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars

Ashton Jeanty, RB, Boise State

General manager James Gladstone won't be timid in his debut draft, and new coach Liam Coen is an offensive mastermind, looking for playmakers. Jeanty is everything they could ever want in a first pick.

6. Las Vegas Raiders

Armand Membou, OT, Missouri

Membou has the best physical traits of any tackle in this class. The Raiders can keep building from the trenches. New general manager John Spytek was in the Tampa Bay front office when the Bucs struck gold with Tristan Wirfs in 2020. Membou at No. 6 isn't too early.

7. New York Jets

Tyler Warren, TE, Penn State

I've been hearing Warren to the Jets for a few weeks. This might seem early for a tight end, but in this draft -- teams should just take their guy where they can get him. In Warren's case, the new regime can turn to its owner, fans and locker room, and say, "This is what we are about."

8. Carolina Panthers

Jalon Walker, LB, Georgia

The Panthers could trade back. If they stay, Walker makes sense. Play him inside, play him on the edge, play him wherever. A coach's son, Walker has won over every coach I've spoken to and would be a day one starter in Carolina.

9. New Orleans Saints

Mykel Williams, Edge, Georgia

I don't see quarterback Shedeur Sanders as the pick here, despite all the assumptions when the Derek Carr injury news trickled out earlier this month. (Does anyone actually know what the story is there?)

Instead, I see the Saints with one of the early "wow" picks of Round 1, grabbing an elite defender who'll carry the torch from Cameron Jordan for the next decade.

Projected trade: IND moves up for a playmaker

My first trade is a fun one. The Colts give up Nos. 14 and 80 to move up four spots in a deal with the Bears.

Indianapolis general manager Chris Ballard needs to do something to help his offense, no matter if Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones is the starting quarterback. So who does he pick?

10. Indianapolis Colts (via projected trade with CHI)

Colston Loveland, TE, Michigan

GM Chris Ballard & Co. get a 6-foot-6 tight end who has many teams enchanted ahead of Round 1. This pick would be about instant offense for a team that needs it.

11. San Francisco 49ers

Walter Nolen, DT, Ole Miss

I'd be shocked if Nolen fell out of the top 15 at this point -- he might be the fastest riser in this draft. He's quick, is a people mover and has had a great predraft process. Everyone is focused on Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart, but Nolen is the Rebels' prospect I hear about more. Don't be shocked if he goes before Mason Graham, the more heralded defensive tackle.

The defensive line was once a real strength of the 49ers. It's time to return to that era.

12. Dallas Cowboys

Tyler Booker, G, Alabama

Booker, a bully of a guard, could help add some much-needed beef to the Cowboys' line. Having had Zack Martin retire this offseason, there's going to be a desire to fill the interior with a plug-and-play lineman.

Everyone will be clamoring for the Cowboys to take a running back or receiver. Let's go guard, though. That's how I see it.

13. Miami Dolphins

Mason Graham, DT, Michigan

Graham has been viewed as a likely top-five pick for the past few months, and he could still go there. If he falls to No. 13, this is a nice win for Miami, who would be getting a Day 1 culture changer and a can't-miss prospect.

14. Chicago Bears (via projected trade with IND)

Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas

Banks could end up going before Membou as the top tackle in this class. He has the better tape and is more consistent. If the Bears trade back and still get him, that's a major win.

15. Atlanta Falcons

Jihaad Campbell, LB, Alabama

For the first time in four years, the Falcons will go defense in Round 1. Campbell is a do-everything linebacker who'll make an immediate impact. His 117 tackles were the most in a season for an Alabama player since DeMeco Ryans.

16. Arizona Cardinals

Jahdae Barron, CB, Texas

The Thorpe Award winner is the top corner in this class not named Travis Hunter. The Cardinals have been quietly adding premier talent through the draft the past few years. Remember: Head coach Jonathan Gannon is a defensive backs coach by trade. This one makes a lot of sense.

17. Cincinnati Bengals

Mike Green, Edge, Marshall

The pass rusher who led the FBS with 17 sacks last season could go even higher than this. The unfortunate truth is that whichever defender Cincinnati takes here will be pitted against veteran Trey Hendrickson, who hasn't been happy with contract negotiations and has requested a trade. It wouldn't be fair to Green, who is a great prospect and fit for the Bengals.

18. Seattle Seahawks

Grey Zabel, C/G, North Dakota State

I've heard some buzz that Zabel could go as high as No. 12. That's a little too rich, but I do think top 20 could happen. The Senior Bowl star turned heads and has been as consistent through the draft process as anyone.

19. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tetairoa McMillan, WR, Arizona

The all-world athlete would be the perfect addition to a wide receiver room with a mix of veterans and young players. The Bucs love Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, and Jalen McMillan is coming off a solid rookie year. McMillan would be the perfect student for the veterans to teach.

20. Denver Broncos

Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State

Bar none, Egbuka is the most universally well-liked prospect in this draft. He is smart, reliable and sure-handed. He could be a 10-year captain somewhere and is most often compared to fellow Buckeyes legend Terry McLaurin.

Coach Sean Payton and general manager George Paton hit a home run with Bo Nix a year ago. This could be another no-brainer.

21. Pittsburgh Steelers

Shedeur Sanders, QB, Colorado

I know Sanders had a good meeting in Pittsburgh when he visited a few weeks back. I also know the Steelers still don't have a QB1 on their roster. This might be viewed as a "slip" down the board for Sanders. He could go anywhere from No. 3 to the Giants to the second round.

Going to Pittsburgh here as the second quarterback in the class wouldn't be so bad.

22. Los Angeles Chargers

Kenneth Grant, DT, Michigan

Coach Jim Harbaugh and general manager Joe Hortiz went big-school prospect with their first four picks a year ago and ended up with an outstanding class.

Harbaugh and defensive coordinator Jesse Minter know Grant well from their time at Michigan. They'll be able to get the best out of the 331-pounder inside.

23. Green Bay Packers

Matthew Golden, WR, Texas

I know it's out of character for Green Bay to take a receiver in Round 1 -- they haven't done it since 2002 -- but in this scenario, Golden could slide right to them. And I can't see him sliding much more.

Green Bay could go in several directions. I doubt anyone thought the Packers could get the consensus top wideout on many boards, though.

24. Minnesota Vikings

Omarion Hampton, RB, North Carolina

The Vikings have needs elsewhere and wouldn't list running back as a clear hole on their roster. But if Hampton is on the board, he'd be a wonderful addition to a young core that the organization hopes can grow old together.

25. Houston Texans

Donovan Jackson, G, Ohio State

The Texans could look to their offensive line and add a guard who has the potential to kick outside to tackle. They're rebuilding their protection in front of quarterback C.J. Stroud. This isn't an attention-grabbing pick, but it's a sensible one in this draft.

Projected trade: NYG makes a move up

It's time for another trade, this one with the third quarterback coming off the board.

In this deal, the Giants would send pick Nos. 34 and 99 to the Rams to move up to No. 26. And crucially, New York would keep its original third-round pick -- No. 65 -- to continue to add talent to its roster.

26. New York Giants (via projected trade with LAR)

Jaxson Dart, QB, Ole Miss

If the draft falls this way, I think the Rams would be OK with this. They don't currently have a second-round pick, but if they agreed to this deal, they'd have four picks on Day 2.

I think the Giants would pounce on Dart. I just am not 100% certain.

27. Baltimore Ravens

Josh Simmons, OT, Ohio State

Simmons could slip because of an injury -- he sustained a torn patellar tendon in October -- but he might be the best of the bunch in the offensive linemen class. The Ravens could add another potential star, and watch -- he'll be a difference-maker in no time.

28. Detroit Lions

Will Johnson, CB, Michigan

Johnson's stock has slipped a bit. He had a foot injury last season and was inconsistent for the Wolverines. He also sat out Michigan's pro day because of a hamstring injury.

He's a top-level talent, though, and he'd be the perfect corner to complement Terrion Arnold.

29. Washington Commanders

Shemar Stewart, Edge, Texas A&M

Stewart slipping this far? It could happen. He'd make a lot of sense for the Commanders given how their run defense performed in the NFC Championship Game.

30. Buffalo Bills

Malaki Starks, S, Georgia

Starks played safety and nickel corner for the Bulldogs, and he'd make an immediate impact for Buffalo. Starks is all ball and one of the safest prospects in this draft.

31. Kansas City Chiefs

James Pearce Jr., Edge, Tennessee

The Chiefs could add another player with stellar physical traits to their defense. Pearce has double-digit sack potential and a ton of upside, though most have him sliding to the second round.

32. Philadelphia Eagles

Maxwell Hairston, CB, Kentucky

The Eagles took cornerbacks with their first- and second-round picks a year ago, but that doesn't mean they wouldn't add to the defensive backfield considering the turnover this offseason.

Hairston is a speedster -- he ran a 4.28-second 40-yard dash at the combine -- who is just scratching the surface of his talent.

The Milwaukee Bucks and general manager Jon Horst have agreed to a multiyear contract extension, sources told ESPN on Thursday.

The Bucks' ownership and Horst's agent, Brian Elfus, reached a new deal late Wednesday night for the NBA championship executive and 2019 NBA exec of the year before his contract expired.

The Bucks have made the playoffs in all eight of Horst's seasons as general manager and have a .647 winning percentage -- second-best in the NBA during that span, per ESPN Research. Horst, 42, started in basketball operations roles in Milwaukee and Detroit before being promoted to Bucks GM in 2017.

Horst, the architect of the Bucks' first championship in 50 years in 2021, has made several signature transactions as the leader of the franchise's basketball operations. In 2018, he led the hiring of head coach Mike Budenholzer and signed Brook Lopez as a free agent. He traded for Jrue Holiday in 2020, and then he landed Damian Lillard in a blockbuster deal right before the 2023 NBA season.

The Bucks (48-34) finished this season with the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee is down 2-0 to the Indiana Pacers in their first-round playoff series.

THE DETROIT PISTONS' team plane has often turned into dance parties after wins this season. Rookie Ron Holland and third-year center Jalen Duren, at 19 and 21 years old, respectively, are the two youngest players on the team. They are usually in charge of the music and lauded by the locker room for their mixture of selections from different eras.

Up and down the aisle, the players will hit their best dance moves until, at some point, a request comes in for an old-school hit -- "Family Reunion" by The O'Jays is the go-to -- which prompts 32-year-old Tobias Harris to put on his best moves, much to the delight of his younger teammates.

"He hits his little one-two every now and then," Duren told ESPN. "We really might have put some youth into him."

"Give Tobias a 9.5," Pistons forward Ausar Thompson told ESPN. "The 0.5 is the stiffness, but he's just tall and he's just built like that so he can't control it. And he's getting up there in age. Maybe younger Tobias would have a 10."

Harris, who is a decade older than most of his teammates, is in his second stint with the Pistons and just completed his 14th regular season in the NBA. The reunion was part of an effort from first-year Pistons president Trajan Langdon to bring in some veterans to mix with the team's collection of lottery picks. Those young players affectionately refer to Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley as "uncs" -- the uncles of the team.

"Him and Beasley pulling out little unc moves we like to call it," Holland told ESPN. "They got a little handshake they got going on."

"I'm not part of the unc crew," Beasley clarified. "I'm still that cool cousin that's a little bit older."

Harris just shakes his head.

He's not even the oldest Pistons player -- that belongs to Hardaway Jr (33 years old). But Harris knew what he was getting into when he signed a two-year, $52 million contract with the Pistons, a team that entered the season with an average age of 24.3 years old, the fourth-youngest team in the NBA. The young team was also coming off a 14-68 season, one of the worst the league has ever seen.

"There's a lot of talent here, kind of just need a few adults in the room," Harris told ESPN. "Guide these guys a little bit, and really boost their confidence up, boost the professionalism, morale of the whole team, and see where they could take us.

"I knew that coming in that this was going to be a breath of fresh air for me, but I've truly enjoyed it. It's the most fun I've had playing basketball my whole career with this group and this team."

Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff, in his first season with the franchise, refers to Harris and the team's vets by a different nickname.

"My safety blanket," Bickerstaff said earlier this month. "Every time things are going awry, I can put those two guys in the game and I know they're going to settle it down."

And so they have, injecting a calming presence to an inexperienced team bursting with talent, including 2021 No.1 overall pick Cade Cunningham, who made his first All-Star team and has a strong case to make an All-NBA team. Bickerstaff, established clear and defined roles for both his younger and veteran players at the start of training camp and helped emphasize the characteristics -- defense and grit -- that fueled Pistons success in the past.

What nobody could foresee was just how swiftly Detroit could pull off a historic turnaround.

The Pistons were a league-worst 14-68 in 2023-24, including a record 28-game losing streak. They surged to 44-38 this season and claimed the No. 6 seed in the East -- the franchise's first season with a winning record since 2015-16. They are the only team in NBA history to triple their win total from the previous season, and no team had ever won fewer games in one season and went on to make the playoffs in the next in league history.

On Monday, the Pistons won a playoff game for the first time since the 2008 Eastern Conference finals, beating the New York Knicks 100-94 at Madison Square Garden. It snapped a streak of 15 consecutive playoff losses, also the longest in NBA history. Their first-round series, a destination that seemed impossibly distant just a season ago, returns to Detroit on Thursday night (7 p.m. ET, TNT) tied at 1-1.

"It feels like it's been a two-to-three year thing, but for us to have done it so quickly, it's just a testament to the group of people that we brought into the building," Cunningham said last week.

"The guys that have been around, we're super thankful for that. Now it's about trying to find ways to win the championship."

LANGDON SMILED AND shook his head when he looked back on his approach. When he first took the job to run Detroit's basketball operations last May, making the playoffs -- especially as one of the top six teams in the East -- wasn't even among his wildest ambitions.

Shortly after the Pistons' cleaned house -- general manager Troy Weaver stepped down and then the team dismissed former coach Monty Williams after the first year of a six-year, $78.5 million contract -- Langdon began devising a plan to make the team more competitive, and fast. He believed the pieces were in place to do so. He began by hiring Bickerstaff, who had been fired by the Cleveland Cavaliers after a disappointing second-round playoff exit. Langdon knew him as a no-nonsense leader who could establish identities and roles -- a clear focus after Williams had used 36 different starting lineups in 2023-24.

Three days later, the Pistons traded for Hardaway, a volume 3-point shooter who had just helped the Dallas Mavericks make the 2024 NBA Finals. He joined a roster that ranked 27th in offense, 27th in 3-point attempt rate and 26th in overall 3-point percentage.

Later that same day, Langdon signed Beasley, another volume shooter, to a one-year, $6 million deal after he had shot 41.3% from deep on nearly seven attempts per game with the Milwaukee Bucks. Two days later, he added Harris, who was fresh off a disappointing end to his stint with the Philadelphia 76ers.

"The main thing was trying to put together some people around these young guys that could help them develop," Langdon told ESPN. "It's not only the on-the-court and between-the-lines that I thought was important, but also the character, the experience and the postseason experience."

Harris, who previously played with Detroit from 2016-2018, has embraced his role, mentoring his younger peers about life off the court, helping them manage their finances, diets and sleep schedules. But he has also been a major contributor on the court, finishing the regular season averaging 13.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game over 73 games, before upping his play in the playoffs, posting an average of 20.0 points and 9.5 rebounds through the first two playoff games.

"I think it's amazing to have somebody like that in your locker room on your team," Cunningham said. The other vets have been instrumental too. Hardaway started 77 games during the regular season and shot 37% from 3 on nearly six attempts per game. Beasley set a franchise record with 319 made 3-pointers, ranking second in the league this season. He joined Anthony Edwards, Klay Thompson, James Harden and Stephen Curry as the only players in NBA history to make at least 300 3s in a season.

"This group has definitely been a blessing to be around," Beasley told ESPN. I've been a part of teams where I came in the gym and I don't want to be there every day. I come in here, no matter what I got going on in my life, I feel like these guys bring me energy, they bring me life."

Langdon says he first saw a spark during training camp -- the competition level was high, he remembers -- but it was a December trip out West, during which the Pistons beat the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, that he began to lift his own expectations on this season.

After a 10-6 January, the Pistons ripped off an eight-game win streak sandwiched around the All-Star break, culminating in blowout victories over the LA Clippers and Boston Celtics. It was the longest win streak by the Pistons since 2008 and moved them into the top six in the Eastern Conference.

"That was probably the first time I was like, 'Oh, we're beating some pretty good teams,'" Langdon said. "We have a chance to compete, be as competitive as we'd like to be. But playoffs still wasn't in that thought process at that point."

Langdon was focused, still, on changing the culture, turning process into results after so much losing. Before this season, Cunningham had never played on a team that had a winning record deeper than five games into the season.

"When you're losing, it compounds every single day," Harris said. "Coming in, I could tell that was something that happened for them last year. To see their excitement, like, winning is fun, how can we get some more of that?

"I had very high expectations for this team and this group, and I knew that with the pieces that we were bringing in as well, that we could make something happen. So could you say it was a little gamble? Yeah, from a team that hadn't won that much. But I was very confident that this team was going to be better than a lot of people expected."

ISAIAH STEWART POINTED toward the ceiling at the Pistons' practice facility at the championship banners from 1989, 1990 and 2004 hanging over the court.

It was a few days after the Pistons forward had returned to the court following a two-game suspension for his involvement in a brawl with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The meaning of his gesture was unmistakable -- and intentional. Despite being ejected several times in his five-year career for his roles in various skirmishes -- or perhaps because of them -- he has become known for a style of play that was a hallmark of the Pistons' glory years, when the Bad Boys terrorized Michael Jordan and the league in the late '80s and early '90s.

"You talking about Detroit value," Stewart told ESPN. "You got to have that grit, physicality."

Detroit finished 10th in defense this season, the team's first top-10 finish in seven years. The Pistons also ranked in the top 10 in offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding and rebounding percentage, second in transition points, and fifth in the most points off turnovers.

Stewart is holding opponents to 43% shooting in the paint as the closest defender, the second-best mark in the NBA. Teammate Ausar Thompson, who missed the start of the season while recovering from a blood clot, ranks second in the league in field goal percentage allowed and total steals since Jan. 1.

"We know that even a lot of the older Pistons guys come to the game, they watch, they got our backs," Thompson tells ESPN. "I feel like we try to compliment them by kind of playing their style of ball. We don't necessarily have a thousand superstars on the team, so just everybody come in and do their piece, and everybody go as hard as possible and bring that Detroit energy."

The connection to the past is intentional. It's something Bickerstaff wanted to foster with his young players.

"Those who come before you are extremely important," Bickerstaff said. "That's what we've done is try our best to pay respect to those who come before us and emulating what's been successful for this organization in the past."

That defense complements the dynamic offense Cunningham provides. The former No. 1 pick averaged a career-best in points per game (26.1), assists per game (9.1), effective field goal percentage (52%) and 2-point field goal percentage (52%), making him the favorite to win the Most Improved Player award. Detroit is shooting 53% off Cunningham's passes this season, sixth-best among players with at least 500 assists, according to ESPN Research.

"Sometimes you get lost in the shuffle of what happened last year," Harris said. "But he's a great leader for this group. His voice is impactful in the locker room and he's a real deal and what he brings to the table night in, night out."

But when the Pistons clinched their playoff berth with a win late in the season against the Toronto Raptors on April 4, and they all boarded the plane back to Detroit, there was no dance party, no music blaring, no real celebration to speak of.

Inside the quiet plane, the Pistons recognized their accomplishment but acknowledged there was still more work to be done.

"We're still hungry," Stewart said. "Yes, we're thankful and we're proud of ourselves for putting ourselves in this playoff setting, but, man, we some dogs. We want more. We don't want to just be happy to be in the playoffs. We want to go do some things."

Alcaraz said he intends to travel to Rome for the Italian Open, which begins on 6 May, before the French Open starts on 25 May.

Even if he is not able to play competitively before Roland Garros, Alcaraz remains confident he will still be able to challenge for the clay-court Grand Slam title.

"The tennis that I've played in the past few weeks has been great," he said.

"Mentally I think I'm strong to play good tennis again, so this is not going to take my confidence away.

"If I don't play Rome, or if I don't play any tournaments before Roland Garros, I don't care about it.

"I know what is my level, I know what I have to do to play good tennis."