- Second-round pick Saben Lee made a strong impression during his pre-draft interview with the Pistons, according to Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press. Bryce Drew, who coached Lee during his first two seasons at Vanderbilt, believes he has the personality to make an impact in the NBA. “In the basketball world, I’ve coached quite a few players and he’s probably tried to dunk on more people than anyone I’ve ever coached,” Drew said. “Even though you’re polite off the court, you can be a lion on the court. At his size, he’s not scared to go try to dunk on anybody.”
Derrick Rose is eager to mentor Pistons lottery pick Killian Hayes, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Rose, who is entering his walk year, plans to make Hayes “uncomfortable” in camp to get the French point guard prepared for the rigors of the NBA. “My job is to push him and to groom him,” Rose said. “Coming from overseas, guys are going to try to play aggressive with him, so it’s my job to play aggressive on him throughout this whole camp so when he gets in a game he won’t feel that much pressure.”
- Guard Delon Wright wanted to rejoin Dwane Casey for the last two or three years, Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press tweets. Wright was traded last month to the Pistons, where he’ll be coached once again by Casey. Wright played three-and-a-half seasons with Toronto – mostly under Casey – before he was dealt to Memphis in February 2019. Wright thought he might get traded to Detroit before he wound up with the Grizzlies. He played for Dallas last season.
On the morning of the 2020 draft, a report indicated that the Bulls had offered Wendell Carter Jr. to Golden State in a trade to move up from No. 4 to No. 2. After Chicago stayed put on draft night, head of basketball operations Arturas Karnisovas denied trying to trade up.
Asked this week about those trade rumors, Carter didn’t sound too stressed about the subject of some draft-day speculation, suggesting he “had a lot of faith” that he would stick with the Bulls, as Rob Schaefer of NBC Sports Chicago writes.
“When I first saw it, I kind of knew it was BS,” Carter said. “I didn’t pay much attention to it. Then my family members started hitting me up about it, like, ‘Man, what’s going on?’ You going to Oakland?’ I’m, like, ‘Man, I feel like I’m good.’ … I knew the coaching staff and the front office believed in me from the talks that we’ve had. … It’s always a little anxiety when you see your name floating around as possibly being traded. But deep down in my heart, I knew I was going to be a Bull.”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- The Bucks are anxiously waiting to find out whether Giannis Antetokounmpo will sign a five-year super-max extension with the team, but fellow All-Star Khris Middleton and head coach Mike Budenholzer said on Thursday that they’re focusing on supporting the reigning MVP rather than pushing him to sign. “He knows that I deeply want him to return and sign this extension, but at the same time, I know he’s got a big decision that he’s got to work through himself and with his family at home because those are the most important people,” Middleton said, according to ESPN’s Eric Woodyard. “Whatever he does, he knows that I’ll support him to the fullest.”
- While the Pistons are no longer carrying as many centers on their roster as it appeared they might early in free agency, general manager Troy Weaver told reporters on Thursday that he didn’t mind the perception that he was stockpiling big men. “Let the record show. I know there was a lot about we were collecting a lot of centers — absolutely!” Weaver said, per Rod Beard of The Detroit News. “I love bigs. … I believe that’s the way you win, by controlling the backboards. It’s held true. I’ve never seen a team win a championship without controlling the backboard.”
- The Pacers have officially announced a handful of new additions to Nate Bjorkgren‘s coaching staff, including confirming the previously-reported hiring of assistant coach/player development Calbert Cheaney. Bjorkgren is also bringing Tyler Marsh with him from the Raptors as a player development assistant.
- Pistons head coach Dwayne Casey sees new addition Josh Jackson as a reclamation candidate a la power forward Christian Wood, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “It’s the same thing,” Casey notes. “Everyone was saying, ‘Dwane, don’t mess with him. Leave him alone.’ I enjoy people who have a chip on their shoulder, who’ve been almost forgotten about as Josh has been.”
The Pistons have re-signed free agent forward Louis King to a new two-way contract, according to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).
King, who went undrafted out of Oregon in 2019, spent his rookie season on a two-way deal with Detroit. He didn’t see much action at the NBA level, logging limited minutes in 10 games, but averaged 15.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 2.8 APG in 31 games (28.5 MPG) for the Grand Rapids Drive, the Pistons’ G League affiliate.
King will occupy one of Detroit’s two-way contract slots alongside second-round pick Saben Lee.
The Pistons also officially finalized their previously–reported training camp deals with LiAngelo Ball and Anthony Lamb, according to Smith (Twitter link). The three signings give Detroit a full 20-man training camp roster.
The Pistons‘ two-year deal with Josh Jackson is worth the full room exception, according to Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). With no options on year two, Jackson is assured of earning about $9.77MM over the course of the deal, including $4.77MM in 2020/21.
Newly-signed big man Mason Plumlee, meanwhile, also has no options on the final season of his new contract with the club. The three-year deal, initially reported as being worth $25MM, technically has an overall value of $24.66MM, but it does feature a 10% trade kicker, per Smith (Twitter link).
Finally, Lithuanian journalist Donatas Urbonas (Twitter link) provides the details on Deividas Sirvydis‘ new contract. The 2019 second-round pick inked a three-year, minimum-salary deal that features full guarantees in years one and two, with a non-guaranteed salary in 2022/23.
Here’s more on the Pistons:
- In a conference call with reporters today, Pistons GM Troy Weaver said that Jerami Grant was the team’s top target in free agency and that he believes the forward has All-Defensive potential (Twitter links via Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press and Eric Woodyard of ESPN). “The Pistons had two iterations of great teams, and Jerami could have played on both teams,” Weaver said of Grant (Twitter link via James Edwards III of The Athletic).
- Weaver also said that both Grant and Josh Jackson were players the team wanted to pursue aggressively when free agency opened, per Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. “Both tremendous young men,” Weaver said. “Bring exactly what we needed for this team – long, versatile athletes that can play multiple positions. That’s today’s NBA.”
- While the Pistons will likely be cautious with Blake Griffin after he missed most of 2019/20 with a knee injury, the former All-NBA forward isn’t interested in minutes restrictions, head coach Dwane Casey said this week (Twitter link via Edwards). “He’s full-go,” Casey said. “… We’re a different team with him.”
- The Pistons announced today in a press release that their signing of veteran shooting guard Wayne Ellington is now official. His minimum-salary contract is fully guaranteed, tweets Keith Smith.
LiAngelo Ball, the younger brother of Lonzo Ball and the older brother of LaMelo Ball, has agreed to sign a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with the Pistons, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Ball’s deal will contain an Exhibit 10 clause, per Charania (Twitter link). He’s extremely unlikely to make the Pistons’ regular season roster, but will be eligible to receive a $50K bonus if he plays in the G League.
As NBAGL guru Adam Johnson notes (via Twitter), Detroit’s affiliate – the Grand Rapids Drive – would need to acquire Ball’s rights from the Oklahoma City Blue. The 22-year-old signed a G League contract to join the Thunder’s affiliate back in March, just before the league went on hiatus due to the coronavirus. Current Pistons general manager Troy Weaver worked in the Thunder’s front office at the time.
Ball, a 6’5″ swingman, isn’t considered to have the same upside as his brothers, but has some experience playing professional ball in Lithuania and earned Finals MVP honors for the Los Angeles Ballers of the Junior Basketball Association in 2018.
9:15pm: His contract with the Pistons is now official, the team announced in a press release.
9:47am: The Pistons have reached a three-year contract agreement with 2019 second-round pick Deividas Sirvydis, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
This reported transaction adds to the Pistons’ flurry of activity this offseason under new GM Troy Weaver. The third year of the deal will not be guaranteed, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets.
The 20-year-old Lithuanian swingman was selected with the 37th overall pick in the 2019 draft. The 6’8” Sirvydis signed a multi-year contract with Hapoel Jerusalem in May but departed Israel in November to join Detroit for training camp. The Israeli team will receive a buyout, Donatas Urbonas tweets.
The Pistons gave up three second-round picks to the Mavericks to move up in last year’s draft to snag Sirvydis. He played last season for Vilnius Rytas in Lithuania, averaging 6.6 PPG in 15.5 MPG while appearing in 16 EuroCup games.
The Pistons are hard-capped after acquiring forward Jerami Grant from the Nuggets in a sign-and-trade.
The Pistons have signed first-round picks Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey, according to a team press release.
Hayes, a point guard from France, was the highest of those picks, going with the No. 7 selection. Assuming he received 120% of the rookie scale for his slot, Hayes will make $5,307,120 in his first season and can make $24,131,515 over the next four years if team options are exercised in the third and fourth seasons.
Stewart and Bey were acquired in draft night agreements. Stewart, a center, was chosen with the No. 16 pick. He’ll make $3,121,080 in his first year and can make $15,098,193 over the next four seasons.
Bey, a forward, was taken with the 19th selection. He’ll bring in $2,689,920 as a rookie and can make $13,030,303 over the next four seasons.
Guard Saben Lee, a second-round pick, was also inked. He will reportedly play on a two-way contract.
The Pistons have placed swingman Zhaire Smith on waivers, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.
The transaction was expected, as Detroit’s plan to waive Smith was previously reported. The Pistons officially acquired Smith from the 76ers in exchange for center Tony Bradley a week ago.
Smith was due to make $3.2MM during the upcoming season but that was the only guarantee left on his rookie contract. His $4.915MM salary for the 2021/22 season includes a team option.
There’s a good chance Detroit will use the stretch provision on Smith’s contract. Only the guaranteed money would count, so if the Pistons stretch his contract for three years, the cap hit would be around $1MM per season.
Smith was drafted just outside the lottery with the No. 16 pick in the 2018 draft but his first two seasons were marred by injuries. He’s appeared in just 13 NBA games.