Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Harden, Oladipo, Grant, VanVleet

November 23rd, 2020 at 9:41pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets have shifted their focus away from a potential James Harden blockbuster and are simply looking to make marginal upgrades to the roster, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Brooklyn might pursue the Hornets’ Nicolas Batum once he clears waivers to give itself another defensive wing. The Nets tried and failed to secure Serge Ibaka‘s services with the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception and also struck out on wing Kent Bazemore, Lewis adds.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Knicks president Leon Rose isn’t eager to pursue a trade for Pacers guard Victor Oladipo even though GM Scott Perry wants to explore that possibility, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. The front office did make a strong push for free agent forward Jerami Grant, who wound up with the Pistons in a sign-and-trade with Denver. Rose could still make another trade for a rotation player or take on another team’s unwanted contract with an asset attached in order to reach the salary cap floor, Berman adds.
Re-signing Fred VanVleet to a four-year, $85MM contract could be considered overpaying but the Raptors have a reputation for rewarding players for a job well done, Eric Koreen of The Athletic opines. While the Raptors may have essentially been bidding against themselves at that price, their reputation of taking care of their own helps in acquiring other players. The contract is also structured so that they can pursue a top-flight free agent next summer.
That contract could ultimately prove to be a good value if VanVleet improves in a few areas, according to Blake Murphy of The Athletic. He needs to get better with his pull-up shooting and finishing at the rim when he takes over lead guard responsibilities, which will happen when Kyle Lowry leaves or shifts to more of an off-guard role. He also needs to get better in pick-and-rolls, Murphy adds.

Jordan Bone Agrees To Two-Way Deal With Magic

November 23rd, 2020 at 6:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Second-year point guard Jordan Bone has agreed to a two-way contract with the Magic, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Bone played on a similar contract with the Pistons after being drafted in the second round in 2019 but spent much of the season in the G League. He appeared in 10 games with Detroit but only averaged 5.3 MPG in those outings.

The Pistons, under new GM Troy Weaver, decided not to extend a qualifying offer to Bone. That made the former Tennessee star an unrestricted free agent.

Orlando is also reportedly using its other two-way slot on another point guard, Karim Mane.

Pistons To Sign Former Vermont Star Anthony Lamb

November 23rd, 2020 at 4:19pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Undrafted free agent swingman Anthony Lamb has reached an agreement with the Pistons, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.

It’s uncertain whether he’s receiving a training camp deal or if he’s signing a two-way contract. Detroit has a two-way slot available.

The 6’6” Lamb was a four-year starter at Vermont and the two-time America East Conference Player of the Year. Lamb averaged 16.7 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.2 BPG as a senior. During his college career, Lamb made 33.6% of his 3-point attempts.

He withdrew his name from the 2019 draft after working out for several teams.

Sixers, Pistons Swap Zhaire Smith, Tony Bradley

November 23rd, 2020 at 1:35pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 23: The Pistons and Sixers have officially sent out press releases announcing the deal, confirming they’ve swapped Bradley and Smith.

There have been reports that Detroit may end up waiving Smith, but for now he remains on the roster.

NOVEMBER 22: The Sixers and Pistons are completing a minor trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that third-year wing Zhaire Smith will head to Detroit in the deal, while fourth-year center Tony Bradley goes to Philadelphia.

Smith was the 16th overall pick in the 2018 draft but has barely seen the court during his first two professional seasons, having battled health issues and playing just 13 total NBA games. He did appear in 28 games for the Delaware Blue Coats in the G League last season, averaging 13.5 PPG and 3.1 RPG with a .530/.376/.714 shooting line.

As Omari Sankofa of The Detroit Free Press notes (via Twitter), the Pistons had been seeking more shooting on the wing and – since they’re in rebuilding mode – can afford to be patient in developing him. Moving Bradley also helps the team slightly clear its logjam at center, where the team has added Mason Plumlee, Jahlil Okafor, and first-round pick Isaiah Stewart in the last few days.

In Philadelphia, meanwhile, new 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has apparently developed a newfound fondness for centers, having already signed Dwight Howard on Saturday to back up Joel Embiid. If Bradley remains with the 76ers, he’ll provide additional depth in the middle.

The 28th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Bradley spent his first three seasons in Utah before the Jazz agreed to trade him to Detroit earlier in the week. He earned regular minutes for the first time in 2019/20, averaging 4.9 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 58 games (11.4 MPG).

The financial impact of the trade will be minimal. Smith has a $3.2MM salary for 2020/21 and a $4.92MM team option for 2021/22, which Detroit must exercise or turn down by the end of next month. Bradley will earn $3.54MM this season before becoming eligible for restricted free agency next year.

Atlantic Notes: Rose, Hayward, Brown, Spellman

November 22nd, 2020 at 9:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

New Knicks president Leon Rose has exuded patience during free agency with an eye toward next offseason’s potentially star-studded free agent class, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. Though the Knicks had some interest in Fred VanVleet and Gordon Hayward, they were not going to shell out the money and multi-year contracts that those top-level free agents received. New York could still trade for Russell Westbrook if the Rockets’ asking price drops but Rose isn’t inclined to make any panic moves, Popper adds.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

Hayward posted a message on Twitter, thanking Celtics fans for their support during his three seasons there. “I know there were some ups and downs, but I will always cherish my experience in Boston. I am forever grateful that I was given the opportunity to wear a Celtics uniform and play in front of the Garden faithful,” said Hayward, who also posted a tweet about his excitement to play for the Hornets.
The Nets are looking at Bruce Brown as a defensive stopper, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Brown was acquired from the Pistons in a three-team deal and slots in as a combo guard. “Bruce, we’ve talked about adding some defensive players,” Nets GM Sean Marks said. “A toughness, a mindset, that’s what we’ll certainly be looking for in Bruce.”
The Knicks will retain big man Omari Spellman and he’s got a pretty good shot to make the opening-night roster, Marc Berman of the New York Post tweets. New York has an agreement to acquire Spellman, shooting guard Jacob Evans and the rights to a future second-round pick from the Timberwolves in exchange for Ed Davis. Berman’s note indicates Spellman’s salary wasn’t simply thrown in to make a trade work.

Pistons Acquire Jerami Grant In Sign-And-Trade With Nuggets

November 22nd, 2020 at 8:13pm CST by Luke Adams

NOVEMBER 22: The Pistons have officially announced the acquisition of Grant. Interestingly, the team’s press release states that it’s a sign-and-trade, with Grant and the draft rights to Nikola Radicevic being sent to Detroit, while Denver receives cash considerations.

The move will allow the Nuggets to create a traded player exception worth about $9.5MM.

NOVEMBER 20: The Pistons are signing veteran free agent Jerami Grant to a three-year contract worth $60MM, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The move will reunite Grant with new Pistons GM Troy Weaver, who worked in Oklahoma City’s front office during the forward’s stint with the team.

Grant, 26, was acquired by the Nuggets during the 2019 offseason from the Thunder in exchange for a first-round pick. He came off the bench for most of the season in Denver, averaging 12.0 PPG and 3.5 RPG with a shooting line of .478/.389/.750 in 71 games (26.6 MPG). He entered the team’s starting lineup in the playoffs due to Will Barton‘s absence and played a key role in Denver’s run to the Western Finals.

Grant’s size, defensive versatility, and ability to knock down outside shots made him a popular free agent this fall, though it’s still a bit surprising that the rebuilding Pistons were the team to land him. Detroit entered this week with cap room but have made a series of moves eating into that cap room and will have re-open some of it to complete the Grant signing.

The Nuggets, meanwhile, will be on the lookout for frontcourt players after two of their key free agents – Grant and Mason Plumlee – agreed to deals with Detroit tonight. According to Denver-area reporter T.J. McBride (Twitter link), the Nuggets offered to match Grant’s three-year, $60MM offer from the Pistons, but he chose Detroit because he wants a bigger role.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pistons Likely To Waive Zhaire Smith

November 22nd, 2020 at 7:56pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons are reportedly trading for Sixers wing Zhaire Smith but it’s unlikely they’ll keep him. They plan to waive Smith and use the stretch provision on his contract, Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports tweets.

However, while they will likely do so, it’s not definite, according to The Athletic’s James Edwards III (Twitter link). The Pistons would like to either keep that roster spot open and/or they have something else in the works, Edwards adds.

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. If the Pistons stretch his contract for three years, the cap hit would be around $1MM per season.

Detroit’s new GM Troy Weaver has executed a flurry of moves in recent days to completely reshape the roster. In one of those moves, he acquired center Tony Bradley from the Jazz, a trade that became official on Sunday. He then reached an agreement with the Sixers to ship Bradley to Philadelphia for Smith.

As we noted earlier, Smith has barely seen the court during his first two professional seasons, mainly due to health issues. He’s appeared in just 13 total NBA games. The Pistons seemingly have no interest in reviving Smith’s career and were just seeking to clear a frontcourt logjam by trading Bradley.

Jazz Ship Tony Bradley, Saben Lee To Pistons

November 22nd, 2020 at 4:27pm CST by Dana Gauruder

NOVEMBER 22: The Jazz have officially announced their deal with the Pistons, confirming in a press release that they received cash from the Pistons in exchange for Bradley and the rights to No. 38 pick Saben Lee. Detroit has already agreed to flip Bradley to Philadelphia in a separate deal.

NOVEMBER 18: The Jazz have agreed to trade center Tony Bradley and the No. 38 pick to the Pistons for cash considerations, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter links).

Bradley, 22, appeared in 58 regular-season games last season, averaging 4.9 PPG and 4.6 RPG in 11.4 MPG. Bradley will be entering his fourth season after spending most of his first two seasons in the G League.

Bradley has a $3.54MM guaranteed contract for the upcoming season and could be a restricted free agent if Detroit extends a $5.277MM qualifying offer next offseason.

Utah’s motivation for the trade was to open more cap room and increase roster flexibility, ESPN’s Bobby Marks tweets. The Jazz have made re-signing unrestricted free agent guard Jordan Clarkson a top priority.

[UPDATE: Jazz, Jordan Clarkson agree to four-year deal]

Detroit has been arguably the busiest team this week, with new GM Troy Weaver completely reshaping the roster by acquiring assets and adding young players. The Pistons made three first-round selections, via their own lottery pick and a pair of draft-night trades.

Eastern Notes: Sixers, Celtics, Pistons, Magic

November 22nd, 2020 at 1:03am CST by Luke Adams

Joking that having son-in-law Seth Curry on the Sixers will let him see his granddaughter more often, head coach Doc Rivers said this week that it was an easy decision to acquire a sharpshooter like Curry when the team had an opportunity to make a deal with Dallas.

“One of the things we wanted to do – Elton (Brand), Daryl (Morey), and I – when we got here was create as much shooting as possible around Ben (Simmons) and Joel (Embiid),” Rivers said, per Brian Seltzer of Sixers.com. “This was a no-brainer.”

Curry wasn’t the only prolific outside shooter the 76ers acquired this week. The team also agreed to trade for Danny Green and used one of its draft picks on Arkansas’ Isaiah Joe, who averaged 3.5 made threes per game over the course of his college career.

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

The Celtics and Hornets were among the teams that exhibited interest in free agent guard Avery Bradley before he signed with Miami, league sources told Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
After reaching agreements with Jeff Teague and Tristan Thompson, the Celtics project to have 16 players competing for 15 roster spots, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, who notes (via Twitter) that one of those players – Javonte Green – is on a non-guaranteed deal. Two other Celtics had their 2020/21 salaries guaranteed today.
Rod Beard of The Detroit News takes a closer look at how Pistons general manager Troy Weaver has reshaped the team’s roster so far, explaining why the team opted to pay big money to Jerami Grant over Christian Wood and acknowledging that the Mason Plumlee signing was a bit of a “head-scratcher.”
The Magic appear to be running it back for the 2020/21 season with very few roster changes, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, who says it’s somewhat surprising that no trade involving Aaron Gordon or Evan Fournier has materialized. While team officials believe the current group can have a winning record, the front office will face criticism if the club once again finishes in the middle of the pack, failing to make any noise in the playoffs and failing to earn a high lottery pick, says Robbins.

Pistons Expected To Waive-And-Stretch Dedmon

November 21st, 2020 at 2:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

NOVEMBER 21: The Pistons likely won’t use the stretch provision on McGruder after all, according to Edwards (Twitter link). The team will save some money in its trade for Delon Wright and no longer needs the extra space that waiving and stretching McGruder would provide.

NOVEMBER 20: The Pistons have made a flurry of reported free agent moves and they’ll apparently clear cap space by using the waive-and-stretch provision on two recent acquisitions.

They’ll waive center Dewayne Dedmon and use the stretch provision to ease the cap hit, according to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). They’re likely to do the same with Rodney McGruder, James Edwards III of The Athletic tweets.

Detroit officially acquired Dedmon from the Hawks on Friday in exchange for Tony Snell and Khyri Thomas. Dedmon was slated to make $13.33MM in the upcoming season with an identical contract number that was only guaranteed for $1MM for the 2021/22 season.

The Pistons acquired McGruder from the Clippers in a three-team trade that became official on Thursday. McGruder had a guaranteed $5.2MM contract for the upcoming season with a non-guaranteed salary of $5MM for 2021/22.

Those non-guaranteed years are significant because they allow Detroit’s front office use the stretch provision for five years instead of three, Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report notes (Twitter links). Since only the guaranteed money counts, Dedmon would only count $2.9MM against the Pistons’ cap over the next five seasons, while the cap hit on McGruder would be just over $1MM in those years.

The Pistons made the trade with Atlanta because it allowed them stretch Dedmon’s contract over five years, rather than stretching Snell’s $12.2MM expiring contract for three years, Edwards tweets.

Those moves will allow Detroit to ink free agents Jerami Grant and Mason Plumlee, as well as completing a sign-and-trade with Houston involving Christian Wood.