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Pistons Notes: Rose, Wood, Morris, Jackson

October 28th, 2019 at 6:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Derrick Rose has gotten off to a strong start with the Pistons but he’ll remain on a minutes limitation, James Edwards III of The Athletic relays. Rose, who signed a two-year, $15MM contract as a free agent this summer, averaged 25.3 PPG and 5.0 APG in his first three games despite playing 26.3 MPG.

“I got to watch his minutes,” coach Dwane Casey said. “I try to keep his minutes around 27, 28. That limits us to what we can do with him. … If it’s tight or close, we may fudge the numbers a little bit, but for the most part, we’re going to keep it around that number each and every night.”

We have more on the Pistons:

Center Christian Wood beat out Joe Johnson for the final roster and made his first meaningful contribution against the Sixers on Saturday night, Rod Beard of the Detroit News notes. Wood, who was claimed off waivers, had 11 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes as Blake Griffin remains sidelined with hamstring and knee injuries. “I was able to show that I want to be in the rotation,” Wood said.
Forward Markieff Morris, who is starting while Griffin mends, was fined $35K by the league for directing inappropriate and offensive language toward a game official, according to a league press release. Morris, who joined Detroit on a two-year, $6.56MM contract, made those remarks during the loss to the Sixers.
Point guard Reggie Jackson underwent tests on his sore lower back, Keith Langlois of the team’s website tweets. Jackson, who will be an unrestricted free agent after the season, missed his second consecutive game on Monday. “The doctor’s going to read the results and see what it is,” Casey said.

Pistons Notes: Griffin, Jackson, Drummond, Doumbouya

October 25th, 2019 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The absence of Blake Griffin has led to offensive struggles for the Pistons’ starting unit during their first two games, Keith Langlois of the team’s website notes.

With Griffin sidelined for at least five games by hamstring and knee injuries, Markieff Morris has taken his spot in the lineup and Detroit got off to slow starts both times. The situation has become even more complicated due to Reggie Jackson‘s lower back tightness, which forced him to depart the 117-100 home loss to Atlanta early on Thursday.

Casey would prefer to limit the minutes of backup point guard Derrick Rose, who has averaged 23 points in his first two games with Detroit. If Jackson needs to miss games, Rose might have to start instead of the other point option, Tim Frazier, because the offense would have even further limitations without Rose’s playmaking.

We have more on the Pistons:

Center Andre Drummond can opt of his contract after the season and enter unrestricted free agency. His opening-night performance showed that he’s going all out in his walk year, Rod Beard of the Detroit News tweets. After he racked up 32 points and 23 rebounds in a season-opening victory at Indiana, Drummond responded to a question regarding Twitter #ContractYearDre by saying, “You know it.”
The fact that Griffin, who has a long injury history, started the season in street clothes could eventually lead the front office to hit the reset button, Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press opines. Dealing Griffin is doubtful given those injury woes and that his max deal takes him through the 2021/22 season. But trade speculation has increased recently due to the possibility of the season going sour quickly, Ellis adds.
First-round pick Sekou Doumbouya isn’t expected to have much of an impact in his rookie season, senior adviser Ed Stefanski told Beard during a Q&A session. The 18-year-old was inactive during the first two games due to a concussion. “When we drafted him, we said early publicly that he’s going to take time to come around and we didn’t put any timetable on it,” Stefanski said. “We made a point that this year, early in the season, we didn’t expect him to be in that rotation. If he keeps playing well when February and March roll around, who knows? We’re not going to throw him to the wolves.”

Christian Wood To Receive Partial Guarantee

October 23rd, 2019 at 11:04am CST by Luke Adams

ESPN’s Bobby Marks provides some financial details on the rookie scale extensions signed on Monday, outlining (via Twitter) exactly how much bonus money is included in five of those deals. Marks also identifies four players who will receive increased partial guarantees as a result of remaining under contract with their respective teams through Wednesday (Twitter link). Those players are Christian Wood (Pistons), Jordan McRae (Wizards), Kendrick Nunn (Heat), and Trey Burke (Sixers).

Central Notes: Bledsoe, Giannis, Rose, Hutchison

October 22nd, 2019 at 10:12pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Eric Bledsoe is expected to be ready for the Bucks‘ opener on Thursday, Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel relays.

“I kind of knew what it was, in a sense,” said Bledsoe, who suffered a rib cage injury earlier in the preseason. “I knew it wasn’t nothing serious… I knew I was going to bounce back.”

Bledsoe will join Brook Lopez, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and newcomer Wesley Matthews in the Bucks’ starting lineup, Velazquez adds in the same piece. Matthews will take over for Malcolm Brogdon, who was traded to the Pacers this offseason.

Here’s more from around the Central:

Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today argues that the Bucks have done everything right to keep Antetokounmpo around long-term. Milwaukee can offer Giannis the super-max next summer.
How Derrick Rose performs will go a long way toward whether the Pistons make the postseason, Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes. Rose signed a two-year deal with the club this offseason.
There are plenty of questions surrounding second-year Bulls forward Chandler Hutchison, according to Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times, who notes that it may be hard for the club to find rotation minutes for Hutchison even once he’s recovered from his hamstring injury.

Pistons’ Blake Griffin To Miss Start Of Season

October 22nd, 2019 at 3:42pm CST by Luke Adams

All-NBA forward Blake Griffin won’t travel with the Pistons to Indiana for Wednesday’s season opener, the team announced today in a press release.

According to the Pistons, Griffin is continuing to undergo treatment and conditioning for his left hamstring and posterior knee soreness. The club expects to re-evaluate him during the first week of November in the hopes that he’ll be able to return at that point.

It’s an ominous start to the season for Griffin and the Pistons, who barely sneaked into the postseason last spring and are viewed as a borderline playoff contender once again this year. The veteran forward was healthier than usual in his first full season as a Piston, appearing in 75 regular season contests — in each of the previous four years, he missed at least 15 games due to injuries.

The Pistons went 2-5 with Griffin on the shelf during the 2018/19 regular season and it sounds like they’ll be without him for at least five games to open the ’19/20 campaign. Detroit is scheduled to face the Pacers (twice), Hawks, Sixers, and Raptors in October, with games against the Bulls and Nets on tap for November 1 and 2.

Pistons Waive Joe Johnson

October 21st, 2019 at 4:31pm CST by Luke Adams

4:31pm: The Pistons have officially waived Johnson, per a press release from the team. A source tells Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link) that Iso Joe isn’t giving up on his NBA comeback and plans to pursue other opportunities.

2:27pm: The Pistons are waiving veteran forward Joe Johnson, league sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). The move should pave the way for Detroit to finalize its regular season roster, with Christian Wood claiming the final spot on the 15-man squad.

Johnson, who didn’t play in the NBA during the 2018/19 season, turned heads with his performance in Ice Cube‘s 3-on-3 league earlier this year. The 17-year NBA veteran showed he still had something left in the tank during his BIG3 run, ranking atop the league in scoring, winning the MVP award, and leading his team to a championship.

That performance helped earn Johnson a partially guaranteed deal in Detroit. However, the team still had 14 players on guaranteed contracts and Wood – who had a non-guaranteed salary – made a strong case to be part of the regular season roster. The Pistons reportedly explored trade options to open another roster spot, with Langston Galloway and Khyri Thomas among the candidates to be moved, but ultimately decided to release Johnson.

An injury may have also been a factor in the Pistons’ decision, as Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reports (via Twitter) that Johnson was experiencing swelling in his Achilles. According to Haynes, tests came back clean and Johnson was responding well to treatment. Still, for a 38-year-old who hasn’t played in the NBA in over a year, any health issues should be approached with caution.

With Johnson headed to the waiver wire, the Pistons will be on the hook for his $220K partial guarantee, assuming he goes unclaimed. Detroit’s team salary is now just $4K below the luxury tax line, tweets cap expert Albert Nahmad.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Lakers, Pistons Among Teams With Roster Moves Still To Make

October 21st, 2019 at 8:42am CST by Luke Adams

NBA teams have until 5:00pm eastern time today to set their rosters for the 2019/20 regular season. Clubs can continue to make roster moves after that deadline, but when the clock strikes five, no team will be permitted to have more than 15 players on standard contracts and two on two-way deals.

[RELATED: 2019/20 NBA Roster Counts]

Currently, there are seven teams that haven’t yet reached that regular-season limit. One of those seven teams, the Rockets, will reportedly convert Chris Clemons‘ standard contract to a two-way deal today, making official a move that was reported last Thursday.

Two other clubs will make similar moves — the Raptors and Wizards are each carrying 16 players on standard contracts but have open two-way contract slots. Toronto is expected to convert Oshae Brissett to a two-way deal, while Washington will likely do the same for Chris Chiozza.

That leaves just four teams with actual cuts to make. Here’s a breakdown of those four clubs:

Detroit Pistons (16 standard contracts, 2 two-way contracts): The Pistons have 14 players with fully guaranteed salaries and intend to retain Christian Wood, who is on a non-guaranteed contract. That means they’ll have to either waive Joe Johnson – their other non-guaranteed player – or find a trade that allows them to create room on the regular-season roster for Johnson.
Los Angeles Lakers (17 standard contracts, 2 two-way contracts): In addition to their 14 players with guaranteed salaries, the Lakers are also carrying Dwight Howard, Devontae Cacok, and Demetrius Jackson. I’d be shocked if anyone but Howard claims the 15th roster spot, but we’ll see what the team’s plans are for Cacok and Jackson. Theoretically, each of them could be converted to a two-way contract, but current two-way players Zach Norvell Jr. and/or Kostas Antetokounmpo would have to be waived in that scenario.
Minnesota Timberwolves (16 standard contracts, 2 two-way contracts): The Timberwolves have 15 players with guaranteed salaries, leaving Tyrone Wallace and his non-guaranteed contract as the most likely odd man out. If Minnesota decides to keep Wallace, it would need to trade or release a player with a guaranteed deal.
Utah Jazz (16 standard contracts, 2 two-way contracts): The Jazz have four players without fully guaranteed salaries, but two of those players – Royce O’Neale and Georges Niang – are presumably locks to stick around. Utah’s decision figures to come down to Stanton Kidd vs. William Howard. Kidd $250K partial guarantee is more substantial than Howard’s $50K, which may help give him the upper hand.

It’s possible that a few more teams will make roster changes today, but the league’s other 23 clubs are currently at or below the regular-season maximum.

Pistons To Retain Christian Wood

October 20th, 2019 at 1:39pm CST by clarkcrum

The Pistons do not intend to waive forward Christian Wood, opting instead to reward the 24-year-old with a regular season roster spot for his strong preseason play, reports Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

With the decision to keep Wood in the fold, Detroit now has some roster maneuvering to do, as they still have 16 players on their regular season roster with tomorrow’s deadline looming after making a series of cuts this morning.

As we relayed about a week ago, the Pistons have been seeking a trade that would allow them to keep both Wood and veteran guard Joe Johnson. In response to Haynes’ report, Rod Beard of The Detroit News opined that a trade still seems to be in the works.

Wood, who has been waived by both the Bucks and Pelicans in 2019, has now seen a successful preseason turn into a regular season roster spot. The UNLV product holds career averages of 9.9 MPG, 5.3 PPG, and 2.9 RPG in 51 NBA contests.

Pistons Waive Four Players

October 20th, 2019 at 8:30am CST by Arthur Hill

The Pistons trimmed their roster by waiving guards Dakarai Allen and Tra-Deon Hollins and forwards Donta Hall and Tre’Shawn Thurman, according to NBA.com’s transactions log.

Hall signed with Detroit in July after going undrafted out of Alabama. He played for the Pistons’ Summer League team and saw limited action in three preseason games. Thurman signed on Friday and is expected to become an affiliate player for the Pistons’ G League team in Grand Rapids.

Allen has spent the past two seasons in the G League and was traded to Grand Rapids in January. Hollins has played in both the G League and in Canada.

Pistons Sign Tre’Shawn Thurman, Cut Craig Sword

October 18th, 2019 at 11:03am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have made another minor change to the back of their roster, announcing today in a press release that they’ve signed forward Tre’Shawn Thurman and released guard Craig Sword.

After starting his college career at Omaha, Thurman transferred to Nevada for his senior season. He averaged 8.2 PPG, 5.8 RPG, and 1.1 SPG in 34 games (26.3 MPG) for the Wolf Pack in 2018/19.

While Sword is expected to join the Grand Rapids Drive – Detroit’s G League team – as a returning-rights player, Thurman will likely be designated as an affiliate player after he’s waived.

The Pistons currently have 20 players under contract and will have until Monday to get down to a maximum of 17 (including two-way players) for the regular season.