Charlie Villanueva has been preparing himself for a starting role this summer.

Jonas Jerebko appears to be the odds-on favorite to be Detroit's starting small forward, but Villanueva plans on challenging for the job.

"That's my mentality, to be a starter," Villanueva said.

"But at the same time, I don't want it to be given to me. I want to earn it. I believe I can be a starter in this league. I've done it before. When we get closer to training camp, I would like to sit down with (Kuester) and just share thoughts, expectations for my role, and just take it from there."