Not long into his rookie year with the Motor City Cruise, it was obvious that Jaden Akins had taken his game to the next level. The Michigan State rookie was making plays and breaking records and just turning heads earlier in his career than people expected.
Akins was good enough to earn G-League All-Star recognition and he broke some Cruise records.
It’s safe to say his rookie year was a complete success, and the Cruise just posted all of his accomplishments to show just how jaw-droppingly impressive it was for the undrafted guard out of Michigan State.
Not your typical rookie season @JadenAkins3 #MotorCityMentality pic.twitter.com/Ie2F30ik1a
— Motor City Cruise (@MotorCityCruise) April 30, 2026
Akins was a G-League All-Star, set a franchise record for assists at the Tip-Off Tournament, was the only rookie in the league with 450 points, 150 assists, 40 steals, and 15 blocks, and he scored the most points with the most asissts and steals of any Cruise player before the age of 23.
Long story short: Akins killed it this season.
I’d be willing to bet that it’s not long before the NBA comes calling. Maybe he can pull a Daniss Jenkins and play a backup role during a Pistons playoff run next year.
Was Jaden Akins “held back” at Michigan State?
Believe it or not, but I’ve seen some Michigan State fans arguing that Akins was held back during his time at Michigan State. Me? I’m not really buying that.
I do think that Akins may have wanted to play more of a primary ball-handler role instead of the two-guard position which he did for his entire four-year Michigan State career, but just because he didn’t run the offense as much as he would’ve liked doesn’t mean he wasn’t allowed to flourish. Akins had the ultimate green light at Michigan State and averaged nearly 12 shots per game as a senior.
It wasn’t like he just started getting major minutes as a senior nor were his shots limited in the previous two seasons. In fact, he played over 27 minutes per game as a sophomore and never went below that mark over his final three seasons. He also started 102-of-107 games over that span and he averaged 8.4 field goal attempts over his career.
Could he have gotten more opportunities to handle the ball? Sure, but Tom Izzo wasn’t going to play him ahead of AJ Hoggard at the point as a junior nor was he going to have a path to playing major point guard minutes with Jeremy Fears Jr. running the ship during his senior year.
Plus, it’s only a matter of time before he gets an NBA opportunity. Izzo couldn’t have hurt his career that much if he looks like he could play in the league today.
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