- The mother of former Grand Rapids Drive forward Zeke Upshaw has reached a private settlement in her federal lawsuit with the NBA and Pistons franchise, according to T.J. Quinn of ESPN.com. Upshaw tragically passed away after collapsing near the end of a G League game in 2018, with his mother Jewel filing a wrongful death lawsuit in the months that followed. NBA officials released the following statement on the matter: “Jewel Upshaw, the National Basketball Association, and the Detroit Pistons announced today that they have resolved their prior dispute and the litigation claims against the National Basketball Association and the Detroit Pistons pending in federal district court have been dismissed. The NBA and Pistons express their sympathies to Jewel Upshaw and the rest of Zeke’s family on his tragic passing.”
- The Pistons are expected to name Donnie Tyndall as new head coach of the Grand Rapids Drive, according to Adam Johnson of 2 Ways & 10 Days. Tyndall has spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach with the Raptors 905, helping win a league championship under Jerry Stackhouse in 2017.
The Pistons have signed a pair of players that were on their Summer League roster earlier this month, inking free agent forwards Donta Hall and Todd Withers to contracts, per RealGM’s official transactions log.
Exact details of Hall’s and Withers’ new deals aren’t known, but RealGM classifies them as one-year contracts. Detroit likely made use of the Exhibit 10 clause in both cases.
Hall, who went undrafted out of Alabama last month, averaging 10.5 PPG, 8.8 RPG, and 1.6 BPG in 34 games as a senior in 2018/19. In five games for the Pistons’ Summer League team in Las Vegas, he recorded 6.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 2.2 BPG in just 16.8 minutes per contest.
As for Withers, he played his college ball at Queens University of Charlotte before joining the Pistons’ G League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Drive, for the 2018/19 season. The 23-year-old appeared in 48 NBAGL games last season, averaging 6.9 PPG and 5.5 RPG and earning an invite for Summer League this offseason. He played well in Vegas, averaging 10.0 PPG on 56.7% shooting in five games (18.8 MPG) for Detroit’s squad.
Neither Hall nor Withers looks like a strong bet to make the Pistons’ 15-man regular season roster for 2019/20, though both players could end up in Grand Rapids playing for the Drive.
- Taking a look at what each player’s role may be for the Pistons’ during the 2019/20 season, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com opines that there are five guys locked in to being sure-fire rotation pieces – Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, and Derrick Rose, and three who will almost certainly join that group – Markieff Morris, Tony Snell, and Bruce Brown.
- Big man Christian Wood, recently claimed by the Pistons after being waived by New Orleans, has become the front-runner to take the 15th roster spot in Detroit, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.
The Pistons have claimed Christian Wood off waivers, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Wood, who has a partial guarantee on his salary that takes effect opening night, was waived Monday by the Pelicans. The power forward/center would be guaranteed $822,679 on his $1,645,357 salary for next season if he remained on the roster for the first game. The full salary won’t be guaranteed until January 10, when all league contracts become guaranteed.
Detroit inherits that contract with the successful waiver claim. The Pistons now have 17 players on their roster with 14 guaranteed contracts – according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link) – and are $223K below the luxury tax.
Wood, 23, is no stranger to the waiver wire. New Orleans claimed him in March after the Bucks let him go. He played just eight games for the Pelicans, but averaged 16.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per night. He has also had brief stays with the Sixers and Hornets since entering the league.
The Kings would like to re-sign free agent center Kosta Koufos, but he has attracted preliminary interest from the Pistons, Raptors and Bucks as well, tweets Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports. Haynes suggests Koufos might remain on the market until the latter stages of free agency.
Koufos, 30, has spent the past four seasons in Sacramento, but has seen his role diminish as the team has added younger talent. He played just 42 games this year, averaging 3.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 12 minutes per night.
Koufos is a traditional low-post center known for his defense and rebounding, but his inability to stretch the floor or hit free throws has limited his effectiveness.
A first-round pick by the Jazz in 2008, Koufos bounced around the NBA before landing a four-year deal with the Kings in 2015. He also spent time with the Timberwolves, Nuggets and Grizzlies.
- Adding Russell Westbrook would have made the Pistons better in the short term but it wasn’t worth the long-term risk, Keith Langlois of the team’s website opines. The Pistons couldn’t afford to give up future first-rounders and agree to pick swaps as Houston did to acquire Westbrook from Oklahoma City. With Blake Griffin‘s big contract and Andre Drummond holding an option to become a free agent next summer, the Pistons would not have been able to make any more notable future upgrades if they took on Westbrook’s huge contract, Langlois adds.
- Veteran point guard Tim Frazier is eager for the opportunity that awaits him with the Pistons, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. While Frazier may see limited minutes behind Reggie Jackson and Derrick Rose, Detroit sees value in having a young and experienced option in case Jackson or Rose get hurt.
It was recently reported that the Heat and Pistons are expected to be the top contenders to land Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook if/when Oklahoma City ends up trading him, with Miami and Westbrook already expressing mutual interest in a potential deal.
However, unlike the Heat, it doesn’t appear as if the Pistons are particularly interested in a trade for the eight-time All-Star and former NBA MVP, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.
Per Ellis, he reached out to a source with firsthand knowledge of the situation involving Westbrook, with the source responding, “Ridiculous… (n)othing there.” Then, in a follow-up piece, Ellis adds that the Pistons’ appetite to obtain Westbrook is lukewarm, even though the franchise readily acknowledges the talent that makes the Thunder guard one of the best point guards in the league.
Ultimately, it appears to Ellis that the primary issue with trading for Westbrook is the value of his contract, which will pay the 11-year veteran $171MM over the next four seasons. And if nothing else, Ellis’ stories probably strengthen the notion that the Heat are the prohibitive favorite to land Westbrook should he be traded from the Thunder.
Representatives from nearly half of the league’s teams were in attendance for a workout that included former NBA stars Amar’e Stoudemire and Monta Ellis, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets.
The Lakers, Clippers, Warriors, Knicks, Thunder, Bucks, Pistons, Kings, Nuggets, Blazers, Magic, Hawks, Wolves and Wizards were all in attendance. Haynes adds that 15 international teams from Europe and Asia also had representatives in Las Vegas for the workout.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Spurs, Nuggets, and Knicks were all interested in JaMychal Green before the forward re-signed with the Clippers, Jovan Buha of The Athletic writes. Those teams were offering him a more lucrative offer than the one he signed with Los Angeles. The Clippers put on a “full-court press” to retain Green, Buha adds, and the 29-year-old ended up inking a two-year deal worth slightly under $10MM.
- Green has the ability to be a free agent next summer, having secured a player option as part of his deal with the Clippers. Buha (in the same piece) speculates that Green could have commanded a deal in the $10MM+ range this offseason and that the forward should have the opportunity for a similar contract next summer.
- Mo Speights, who played in China last season, is working out for teams in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated tweets. Speights last played in the NBA for the Magic during the 2017/18 season.