- Though Jaden Ivey and Marcus Sasser are not natural point guards, The Athletic’s James Edwards believes one of them will back up Cade Cunningham rather than the Pistons making another roster move. Adding a free agent point guard would take away some of their playing time and the Pistons already brought in Tim Hardaway Jr. via trade and Malik Beasley via free agency. That duo will likely soak up a lot of minutes at shooting guard.
The Hornets‘, Pistons‘, Spurs‘ and Thunder‘s G League affiliates completed a four-team trade, according to a release (Twitter link) and the G League transactions log.
In the trade, the Greensboro Swarm (Hornets) obtained the returning player rights to both Zavier Simpson and Caleb McConnell. The Motor City Cruise (Pistons) acquired RaiQuan Gray‘s rights, along with OKC’s 2025 second-round pick. The Austin Spurs got the rights to Nathan Mensah while the Oklahoma City Blue obtained Buddy Boeheim‘s.
Acquiring a player’s returning G League rights doesn’t necessarily mean that player will suit up for his new team. These trades ensure that if a player signs an NBAGL contract, he will play for the club that acquired his rights. When deals occur at this point in the offseason, they’re often precursors to players signing Exhibit 10 contracts with the parent club, lining them up to receive a bonus worth up to $77.5K if they’re waived and then spent at least 60 days in the G League.
This deal appears to be for exactly those purposes, at least in part. Mensah and Boeheim reportedly agreed to training camp deals with the Spurs and Thunder, respectively, so these trades indicate those agreements will be completed soon. Mensah played in 25 games for the Hornets last season, averaging 1.3 points and 2.6 rebounds per contest. Boeheim played two seasons with the Pistons, appearing in 20 games and averaging 2.5 PPG.
The other names in the trade are interesting. Simpson played in Summer League with the Hornets but previous reporting from HoopsHype indicated he was set to head overseas this season. He may very well still be doing that, but Charlotte clearly likes him. Gray, meanwhile, was traded while on a two-way contract to the Bulls before being waived.
Simpson has 11 games of NBA experience, averaging 7.8 points and 5.0 assists. McConnell, a former Rutgers player, also played for Charlotte in Summer League. While he hasn’t yet appeared in an NBA game, he suited up for 47 G League contests and averaged 7.1 points and 5.7 rebounds last season. Gray played parts of two seasons with the Nets and then Spurs, averaging 9.8 points in his four games.
We have more from the G League:
- The Cruise and Spurs participated in another multi-team trade, with Motor City acquiring the rights to Javante McCoy and Reggie Kissoonlal along with unspecified draft capital, according to the log and a team release (Twitter link). Austin obtained the rights to Isaiah Miller and Jaylen Johnson, while the Salt Lake City Stars (Jazz) got a 2025 first round pick and Jayce Johnson. None of those players have yet agreed to sign Exhibit 10 deals, but as teams start fielding their training camp rosters, they’ll be names to monitor. All players involved have previously participated in training camps with NBA teams.
- The Long Island Nets and Cleveland Charge completed their own trade, with the rights to Trey McGowens heading to Cleveland in exchange for Tray Maddox‘s rights (Twitter link). McGowens signed an Exhibit 10 with Brooklyn last season and averaged 10.1 points in 16 G League games last season. Maddox, a Western Michigan product who went undrafted in 2023, averaged 6.1 PPG last season for the Charge.
- In case you missed it, Lonnie Walker IV signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Celtics and may end up playing for their G League affiliate this season, at least to begin the year.
Two-way contracts allow NBA teams to carry three extra players in addition to the 15 on their regular season roster. These players generally bounce back and forth between the NBA and G League, but remain under team control and can’t be poached by rival franchises.
With training camps set to begin in about a month, there are still nine NBA teams with open two-way spots. Two clubs — the Nets and Magic — each have a pair of two-way openings, while the remaining seven teams have one opening apiece. That means there are currently 11 two-way openings in the NBA.
Here’s the full list of NBA teams with two-way vacancies, as shown by our 2024/25 two-way contract tracker:
- Brooklyn Nets
- Chicago Bulls
- Charlotte Hornets
- Dallas Mavericks
- Detroit Pistons
- Los Angeles Clippers
- Orlando Magic
- Portland Trail Blazers
- Washington Wizards
Technically, the Cavaliers have yet to finalize their reported two-way deal with JT Thor, but we expect that to occur at some point before training camp — that’s why they are not included on this list.
Since two-way deals are non-guaranteed and don’t count against the salary cap, it’s pretty common to see players shuffled in and out of rosters both before and during the season. It’s worth noting that Exhibit 10 deals can be converted to two-way contracts under certain conditions — these teams may be waiting until training camp and preseason to get a better look at young players.
First introduced in 2017, two-way deals have undergone some rule changes in recent years, and the NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement has updated them further. Here are some key points to remember:
- Teams can now carry three players on two-way contracts, rather than two.
- Two-way players are eligible to be active for up to 50 of their team’s 82 regular season games. If a team isn’t carrying a full 15-man standard roster, its two-way players can only be active for a combined 90 games.
- Players on two-way contracts will earn $578,577 in 2024/25, half of the rookie minimum.
- Two-way contracts can’t be signed after March 4.
You can check out our glossary entry to learn more about two-way contracts.
Three of the first four players selected in the 2021 draft have already received rookie scale extensions, but Rockets guard Jalen Green may have to wait until next summer, writes Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report. Despite a strong finish to last season, there are still questions about Green after three years in the NBA. Houston may want to maximize its cap space for 2025, and Pincus suggests the Rockets’ final offer to Green may not be in the neighborhood of what fellow top four picks Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes received.
That philosophy would also affect Alperen Sengun, who was taken with the 16th pick in 2021. Pincus suggests that Sengun could receive a generous offer before the October 21 deadline if the Rockets are planning to pick up Fred VanVleet‘s $44.9MM option for the 2025/26 season. However, the Turkish center will only have a $16.3MM cap hold if the team plans to decline its option on VanVleet and operate using cap space.
Pincus’ comments are part of his analysis of the entire first round from 2021 and the likelihood of an extension for each remaining player. He gives a C-minus to Cunningham’s new deal, stating that the Pistons assumed unnecessary risk when they could have signed him to a similar contract next summer. The Cavaliers‘ Mobley extension gets a B-minus from Pincus, while the Raptors‘ Barnes extension rates a B-plus.
There’s more news from around the basketball world:
- Stephen Curry‘s extension with the Warriors and Paul George‘s max contract with the Sixers will push them above $500MM in career earnings, joining LeBron James and Kevin Durant as the only players with deals in place to reach that figure, notes Steve Henson of The Los Angeles Times. James Harden will top $400MM under his new two-year, $70MM deal with the Clippers, while Chris Paul will get close to that number after joining the Spurs for one year at $10.46MM.
- Longtime NBA guard Patrick Beverley made his debut for Hapoel Tel Aviv today in Israel, according to Eurohoops. Beverley, 36, was in the starting lineup and contributed three points, six assists and his typical intense defense in a preseason win over Elitzur Ironi Netanya.
- Former NBA players Shabazz Muhammad and Thomas Robinson have signed with Homenetmen Beirut, per Dario Skerletic of Sportando. Muhammad, who joined the Kings’ G League affiliate in January, last played in the NBA during the 2017/18 season. Robinson, a lottery pick in 2012, has been out of the league for seven years.
Boban Marjanovic turned 36 this month. The affable big man told Marc Stein in his latest Substack post that he’d like to still be playing at 40 years old, as LeBron James is doing.
“I want to stay in [the] NBA; this is the main goal,” he said. “I want my kids to be there and I want myself to be there.”
Marjanovic remains on the free agent market and continues to search for a new opportunity. He was on the Rockets’ roster last season.
We have more from around the international basketball world:
- Bulls center Nikola Vucevic hasn’t ruled out the idea of finishing his career in Europe, but doesn’t plan to play overseas anytime soon, BasketNews.com relays. “I would love to play in the NBA for as long as possible. It’s the best league, with the best players and conditions,” Vucevic told Iva Jevtic of B92. “At this moment, I’m not thinking about a return to Europe. If it ever happens, Crvena Zvezda would be the main favorite, but many things would have to fall into place.” Crvena Zvezda is based in Belgrade, Serbia.
- A number of NBA teams are in rebuilding mode and Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report ranks how each of them are faring. He sees the Spurs being ahead of the pack and not just because they have generational talent Victor Wembanyama. The Pistons come in at the No. 2 spot due to the amount of young talent on their roster, headed by Cade Cunningham.
- In a comprehensive feature story, Kyle Tucker of The Athletic details the difficulties that Willie Cauley-Stein has endured in recent years. Cauley-Stein, who hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since the 2021/22, remains hopeful of getting another NBA contract.
Pistons fans made it known in an annual survey conducted by James Edwards III of The Athletic that this is somewhat of a make-or-break year for the franchise.
Only 35.8% of the more than 2,000 fans who cast their votes believe the team is headed in the right direction, while 38.7% said they were unsure. The remaining 25.4% believe the Pistons aren’t on the right path. Edwards notes that in previous surveys he’s conducted with the fans, they tended to be more optimistic.
Regarding the question of which player needs to take the biggest leap during the upcoming season, 69% chose either Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey. Both players had uneven second seasons under previous head coach Monty Williams and will be eligible for rookie scale extensions during the 2025 offseason. It shows that the fans believe this is a pivotal season for both lottery picks, Edwards notes.
As for this summer, the best move wasn’t a player acquisition, according to a majority of fans. Instead, the firing of former GM Troy Weaver received 62.7% of the votes.
We have more on the Pistons:
- Trajan Langdon‘s personnel moves this summer showed that the new president of basketball operations is taking a long-range approach toward building the franchise, according to Pistons.com’s Keith Langlois. Langdon added a number of veterans on one- and two-year deals to improve the team’s short-term prospects but didn’t take any roll-of-the-dice gambles that might have hindered the long-term vision. Langlois notes that the next two draft classes are deeper with more projected franchise-altering prospects than 2024’s class featured.
- Tim Hardaway Jr. and Malik Beasley are two of the offseason acquisitions who might be flipped at the trade deadline, depending upon how the first 50 games shake out, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press (subscription required). Hardaway, acquired in a salary dump from Dallas, and Beasley, who signed a one-year contract as a free agent, are proven gunners who could help a contender if their efficiency holds up.
- Did you miss any of the Pistons’ offseason moves? You can find our Offseason Check-In right here.
Former NBA star Carmelo Anthony would like to become part of a team’s ownership group, he said on his 7PM in Brooklyn podcast (YouTube link). However, he’s not quite sure how to go about becoming a minority stakeholder.
“I’m out there trying to raise money now, trying to raise money with my sports fund … it’s hard to raise money,” said Anthony, who earned $250MM+ in NBA contracts over his career. “… It’s hard to raise money. … And getting people to understand what sports is. It’s so much money being spent into sports, and people really don’t understand it. People really don’t understand sports.
“(The NBA) is a small piece of sports globally. A small piece in the grand scheme of things. This is one market. … That’s North America, they control basketball, but it’s like, they going global with it.”
Here’s more from around the basketball world:
- French guard/forward Axel Toupane, who won a championship with Milwaukee in 2021, is signing with the Diablo Rojos for the Mexican LNBP season, a source tells Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). Toupane appeared in 33 regular season games with three different teams over the course of his three NBA seasons. The 32-year-old has had a long international career, playing for teams in France, Lithuania, Greece and Spain since 2011. He played for Metropolitans 92 last season in France’s top basketball league (LNB Elite).
- Dan Favale of Bleacher Report lists the biggest 2024 offseason win and loss for each of the NBA’s 30 teams. For the defending champion Celtics, Favale views Derrick White signing a long-term extension as their biggest win, while their biggest loss was losing top assistant coach Charles Lee, who is now head coach of the Hornets. At the other end last season’s standings, Favale liked the contract the Pistons handed out to Simone Fontecchio (two years, $16MM), but was not a fan of the trade that shipped Quentin Grimes to Dallas for Tim Hardaway Jr. and three second-round picks.
- In case you missed it, Real Madrid and Guerschon Yabusele have reached an official agreement to end his contract, clearing the way for the French forward to finalize his reported deal with the Sixers.
Diamond Sports Group – the parent company of the Bally Sports regional networks – announced on Friday that it has reached an agreement with the NBA to continue local broadcasts for 13 teams for the 2024/25 season, according to Evan Drellich and Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic.
Diamond’s agreements, including a deal with the NHL to continue broadcasting nine teams’ games, will need to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge. That hearing is scheduled for September 3, per Drellich and Vorkunov. While the new deals will only cover the 2024/25 season for now, they could extend beyond that if Diamond gets out of bankruptcy.
Diamond won’t be moving forward on deals with the Pelicans or the Mavericks, according to Friday’s announcement. The Pelicans news was reported earlier this month, with the team making plans to broadcasting its games for free over the air through Gray TV.
The Mavericks’ broadcast plans for the coming season remain unclear. However, The Athletic characterized the split with Dallas as mutual, and an NBA spokesperson told The Dallas Morning News that the Mavs “declined to continue distributing their games” through Diamond/Bally Sports, so it sounds like the club has a new plan in the works.
The 13 teams whose games will continue to air on Diamond’s regional sports networks in 2024/25 are the Hawks, Hornets, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Clippers, Grizzlies, Heat, Bucks, Timberwolves, Thunder, Magic, and Spurs.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Saturday’s farewell game in honor of Goran Dragic‘s retirement – dubbed “The Night of the Dragon,” will stream on the NBA App at 2:00 pm Eastern time, the league announced today (Twitter link). Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic will team up as part of “Team Luka,” while Dragic’s roster features former MVP Steve Nash. Eurohoops published the full rosters on Twitter.
- Speaking to reporters ahead of Dragic’s farewell game, Dirk Nowitzki suggested that he would like to continue working in basketball in some capacity, but he doesn’t plan on becoming a full-time coach for any team. “I don’t think I see coaching in my future,” Nowitzki said, per Cesare Milanti of Eurohoops. “Things could change very quickly, but I don’t see myself as a team coach. I see more myself as an individual coach.”
- Former Bucks assistant Josh Oppenheimer has accepted a job on Porter Moser‘s coaching staff at Oklahoma, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Milwaukee parted ways with Oppenheimer – who had a “close working relationship” with Giannis Antetokounmpo, according to Wojnarowski – back in May as Doc Rivers made changes to his staff ahead of his first full season with the Bucks.
Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Detroit Pistons.
Free agent signings
Tobias Harris: Two years, $52,000,000. Signed using cap room.- Simone Fontecchio: Two years, $16,000,000. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
- Malik Beasley: One year, $6,000,000. Signed using cap room.
Trades
- Acquired Tim Hardaway Jr., the Raptors’ 2025 second-round pick, the Heat’s 2028 second-round pick, and either the Clippers’ or Hornets’ 2028 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable) from the Mavericks in exchange for Quentin Grimes.
- Acquired Wendell Moore and the draft rights to Bobi Klintman (No. 37 pick) from the Timberwolves in a four-team trade in exchange for the draft rights to Cam Spencer (No. 53 pick; sent to Grizzlies).
Draft picks
- 1-5: Ron Holland
- Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $37,463,383).
- 2-37: Bobi Klintman
- Signed to four-year, $7,995,796 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year non-guaranteed team option.
Two-way signings
Departed/unsigned free agents
- Malachi Flynn (Spurs)
- Evan Fournier (unsigned)
- Taj Gibson (Hornets)
- Chimezie Metu (Barcelona)
- Jared Rhoden (Raptors)
- Stanley Umude (Bucks)
- James Wiseman (Pacers)
Other moves
- Signed Cade Cunningham to a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension that begins in 2025/26. Projected value of $224,238,150 (starting at 25% of the cap). Projected value can increase to $269,085,780 (30% of the cap) if Cunningham meets Rose Rule performance criteria.
- Claimed Paul Reed off waivers.
- Waived Troy Brown.
- Waived Buddy Boeheim (two-way).
Salary cap situation
- Operating under the cap ($140.6MM) and above the minimum salary floor ($126.5MM).
- Carrying approximately $130.3MM in salary.
- No hard cap.
- Full room exception ($8MM) available.
The offseason so far
After winning no more than 23 games for four straight seasons, the Pistons entered 2023/24 hoping to take a step forward under new head coach Monty Williams. Instead, the team endured one of the ugliest seasons in NBA history, compiling a franchise-worst 14-68 record and matching a league record by losing 28 consecutive games.
The Pistons responded by replacing general manager Troy Weaver with new head of basketball operations Trajan Langdon, a former player and a veteran executive who previously worked in New Orleans and Brooklyn. Langdon certainly wants to see better on-court results than Detroit had last season, but he also isn’t yet feeling any win-now pressure in his first year on the job, so his approach to the offseason blended moves that could help in the short term with future-minded transactions.
In free agency, the Pistons looked to add veteran leadership while upgrading their outside shooting after ranking among the NBA’s bottom five last season in three-pointers made and three-point percentage. There was some sticker shock when word broke that Tobias Harris had agreed to a two-year, $52MM contract with Detroit, but Harris is the sort of scorer and shooter the team needed in its frontcourt, and his deal isn’t lengthy enough to become a real burden on the club’s cap.
The Pistons also re-signed Simone Fontecchio (two years, $16MM) and brought in Malik Beasley (one year, $6MM), giving the team two more reliable marksmen on short-term deals.
Harris, Fontecchio, and Beasley aren’t going to turn Detroit into a playoff team, but they’ll help open up the floor for franchise player Cade Cunningham to operate. After a lost 2022/23 season, Cunningham returned from a left leg injury and enjoyed a breakout year, with career highs in PPG (22.7), APG (7.5), FG% (.449), and 3PT% (.355).
The former No. 1 overall pick is entering his age-23 season and will be playing on a roster a little better suited to his skill set, so it’s not unreasonable to expect him to reach a new level in 2024/25. The Pistons are certainly hoping for continued growth after giving him a five-year, maximum-salary rookie scale extension in July. That deal, which will go into effect in ’25/26, projects to be worth about $224MM, or up to $269MM if Cunningham takes a huge step forward and earns All-NBA honors next spring.
While additions like Harris and Beasley should help make the Pistons a more competitive team in the short term, some of Langdon’s other moves this summer were made with the long term in mind. Detroit acquired three future second-round picks and moved up 16 spots in this year’s second round by sending out Quentin Grimes and taking back Tim Hardaway Jr. (from Dallas) and Wendell Moore (from Minnesota) in salary-dump deals.
It’s possible none of those four second-round picks (including this year’s No. 37 selection Bobi Klintman) will yield a better NBA player than Grimes, but Langdon and his new front office clearly weren’t committed enough to the former Knick to pay up for his next contract (Grimes is rookie scale extension-eligible this offseason). And while Hardaway was a salary dump from the Mavericks’ perspective, he figures to play a rotation role in Detroit in 2024/25 after making 37.5% of his three-point tries over the past five seasons.
The Pistons’ lottery selection, No. 5 overall pick Ron Holland, is another long-term investment for the organization — he turned 19 just last month and has a few areas of his game he’ll need to improve in order to earn regular rotation minutes as a rookie. Several mock drafts leading up to June’s event had Holland going outside the top 10, but Langdon was willing to bet on the young forward’s upside following an up-and-down year with the G League Ignite.
While the Pistons’ selection of Holland was unexpected, it may not have been the most surprising move made in Detroit this summer. A year after signing what was – at the time – a record-setting contract for an NBA head coach, Williams was dismissed with five years and well over $60MM still left on that six-year deal.
It’s rare for NBA teams to eat that much money and give up on a head coach so soon, but it’s a credit to club owner Tom Gores that he was willing to write that check and let Langdon make his own hire. The Pistons brought in former Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, who showed in Cleveland that he’s capable of turning a young team into a perennial playoff club.
Up next
The Pistons are the only NBA team with any cap room remaining — they have just over $10MM still available.
Theoretically, with one spot still open on the team’s projected 15-man roster, that money could be used to pursue a free agent. But Cavs restricted free agent Isaac Okoro is the only unsigned player likely to earn significantly more than the veteran’s minimum, and there has been no indication Detroit is pursuing him.
There’s no urgency for the Pistons to use their cap room immediately, so the front office will likely remain patient and stay on the lookout for ways it could come in handy. That could mean accommodating another salary dump to acquire more draft assets, like they did with Hardway and Moore. It could also mean claiming a player off waivers, like they did last month with big man Paul Reed. If no favorable opportunities arise this fall, Detroit could carry that cap room into the season and use it to make a midseason deal.
In addition to their open 15-man roster spot, the Pistons have one two-way slot available.
As for extension candidates, Hardaway is the only player eligible for a new deal now that Cunningham has been locked up. I don’t expect extending the veteran wing will be a preseason priority for Detroit — if he performs well during the season, the team could always explore a possible extension for Hardaway anytime up until June 30.
- The Pistons are hiring Matthew Verden as their director of grassroots scouting and intelligence, according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto (Twitter link). Verden was previously the senior manager of player personnel and strategy for the development program Overtime Elite.