Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons Sign Center Johnny Hamilton

July 31st, 2018 at 4:23pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Center Johnny Hamilton has signed a partially-guaranteed, one-year contract with the Pistons, Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype tweets.

It’s a training camp deal and he’ll likely be an affiliate player who will spend next season with their G League club, the Grand Rapids Drive, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com tweets. Hamilton showed strong scoring instincts on the Pistons’ summer league team in Las Vegas, Langlois adds.

Hamilton, 24, played one season with the University of Texas-Arlington after transferring from Virginia Tech. The 7-footer posted averages of 11.1 PPG, 8.1 RPG and 2.3 BPG at UTA. He was eligible for this year’s draft but wasn’t selected.

He appeared in three summer league games and averaged 4.0 PPG, 6.7 RPG and 1.7 BPG in 12.7 MPG.

Stefanski Has Remade One-Third Of Pistons' Roster

July 29th, 2018 at 9:05pm CST by Luke Adams

Ed Stefanski, the new head of basketball operations in Detroit, inherited a squad with most of its veteran players under contract through the 2018 offseason, but has still managed to remake a third of the Pistons‘ roster this summer, writes Keith Langlois of Pistons.com.

While the Pistons added veterans like Glenn Robinson III, Jose Calderon, and Zaza Pachulia to the mix, Stefanski believes that the two new rookies – Bruce Brown and Khyri Thomas – are capable of making an immediate impact at the NBA level.

“I really believe that. They like to play defense,” said Stefanski, who technically holds the role of senior advisor for the Pistons. “They’re from good programs, they’re unbelievable kids and they want to play defense. Everywhere I’ve been, (rookies) never got on the floor because they didn’t play defense. These two want to. I like both of them.”

Pistons Still Intend To Sign Exec To Head Analytics Department

July 26th, 2018 at 2:22pm CST by Luke Adams

Ed Stefanski has revamped the Pistons‘ front office in recent months, but he still wants to make one more hire, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com, who writes that the club is on the lookout for an executive who will oversee analytics and salary cap management.

Pistons Sign Second-Rounder Khyri Thomas

July 25th, 2018 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have signed second-round pick Khyri Thomas to his first NBA contract, according to the league’s official transactions log.

A shooting guard out of Creighton, Thomas projects has three-and-D potential at the NBA level. He averaged 15.1 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 2.8 APG with a .538/.411/.788 shooting line during his final college season, then was selected 38th overall on draft night. The Pistons acquired the pick from the Sixers, sending two future second-rounders to Philadelphia for the right to draft Thomas.

While terms of the contract agreement aren’t yet known, Detroit still has a good chunk of its mid-level exception available and could use it to give Thomas a three- or four-year contract. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see him receive a deal similar to the one signed by Bruce Brown, who was selected 42nd overall by the Pistons. Brown got a three-year, minimum-salary contract with two years guaranteed.

Assuming Thomas gets a guaranteed salary for 2018/19, that would give the Pistons 15 players on guaranteed NBA contracts. The team projects to be just slightly below the $123.73MM tax line, and would be hard-capped at $129.82MM if Thomas gets part of the mid-level.

Thomas had been the highest 2018 draft pick who remain unsigned. The top 42 picks are now locked up, as our tracker shows.

Central Notes: Love, Middleton, Perkins, Pistons

July 19th, 2018 at 10:45pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Earlier tonight, we heard talk of the Cavaliers sending Kyle Korver to Philadelphia in exchange for Jerryd Bayless. While we wait to see if anything materializes in Cleveland, let’s take a look at some notes from the Central Division:

The Cavaliers are not shopping Kevin Love, though he could be on the move if the right offer presents itself, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst mentions on the Lowe Post podcast. The scribe adds that Khris Middleton is in the same boat with the Bucks not deeming him untouchable nor looking to deal him.
Cleveland waived Kendrick Perkins to “do right” by the big man and allow him to pursue training camp deals, a source tells Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. The Cavaliers signed Perkins on the final day of the 2017/18 regular season back when LeBron James was still on the roster. The team had hoped to use Perkins’ contract as part of an offseason trade.
The Pistons have added Tim Grgurich and Micah Nori as assistant coaches to Dwane Casey‘s staff, Ansar Khan of Mlive.com relays.
Alex Boeder of NBA.com examines what Brook Lopez will bring to the Bucks. Lopez should be able to help the team stretch the floor with his three-point shot, as over 40% of his shots from the field last came from behind the arc.
FIBA has banned Bucks center Thon Maker for three games in international play for his part in a brawl during a game in the Philippines earlier this month, according to an ESPN report. Maker said he disagreed with the decision in a written statement that was released on his Twitter account.

Checking In On 2018’s Unsigned Draft Picks

July 17th, 2018 at 2:45pm CST by Luke Adams

The 2018 NBA draft took place less than a month ago, but over three quarters over the players selected on the night of June 22 have already signed their first NBA contracts. That includes each of the 30 players picked in the first round, all of whom are now under contract.

The following players have not yet signed contracts with their new NBA teams:

Detroit Pistons: Khyri Thomas, SG (Creighton)
Orlando Magic: Justin Jackson, F (Maryland)
Washington Wizards: Issuf Sanon, G (Olimpija Ljubljana)
Oklahoma City Thunder: Hamidou Diallo, SG (Kentucky)
Houston Rockets: De’Anthony Melton, G (USC)
San Antonio Spurs: Chimezie Metu, F/C (USC)
New Orleans Pelicans: Tony Carr, PG (Penn State)
Oklahoma City Thunder: Devon Hall, SG (Virginia)
Philadelphia 76ers: Shake Milton, G (SMU)
Charlotte Hornets: Arnoldas Kulboka, SF (Capo D’Orlando)
Dallas Mavericks: Ray Spalding, PF (Louisville)
Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Hervey, SF (Texas-Arlington)
Denver Nuggets: Thomas Welsh, C (UCLA)

Sanon, Carr, and Kulboka will reportedly spend the 2018/19 season overseas, so we can safely remove their names from this list — they won’t be signing NBA contracts this offseason. Welsh, meanwhile, has reportedly agreed to terms on a two-way contract with Denver, though it’s not yet official.

That leaves just nine players from 2018’s draft class who we should still expect to sign at some point. Of those nine players, the higher picks such as Thomas (Pistons), Jackson (Magic), Diallo (Thunder), and Melton (Rockets) are good bets to sign multiyear NBA contracts. Even though some of those teams have luxury-tax concerns, they’ll have to fill out their rosters somehow, and a rookie contract at or near the minimum is the best way to avoid significantly increasing their potential tax penalties.

The players selected in the 50s may be candidates for two-way deals. A year ago, no player selected between Nos. 49-60 received a standard NBA contract, with all of those players signing two-way contracts, agreeing to straight G League contracts, or heading overseas to join an international team.

As such, players like Hall (Thunder), Milton (Sixers), Spalding (Mavericks), and Hervey (Thunder) should be considered two-way options. For now though, Dallas doesn’t have a two-way slot open, and Oklahoma City only has one, so it remains to be seen what the future holds for these late second-rounders. We should find out in the coming weeks.

Pistons Sign Keenan Evans To Two-Way Contract

July 17th, 2018 at 7:57am CST by Dana Gauruder

JULY 17: Evans’ two-way contract with the Pistons is now official, per RealGM’s NBA transactions log. Evans and Reggie Hearn now occupy Detroit’s two-way contract slots.

JUNE 27: Texas Tech guard Keenan Evans has agreed to a two-way contract with the Pistons, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

The 6’3” Evans played four seasons with the Red Raiders and posted averages of 17.6 PPG, 3.1 RPG and 3.2 APG in his senior year. He struggled from long range, making 32% of his 3-point attempts after connecting on 43.2% during his junior year.

Evans played the last month of his college career, including the NCAA Tournament, with a broken toe.

The Pistons decided not to extend a qualifying offer to one of their two-way players last season, point guard Kay Felder, according to Tony Paul of The Detroit News.

Felder, a Detroit native, joined the Pistons in January after he was waived by the Bulls in December. He spent most of his time in the G League, playing two games with the Pistons, after seeing action in 14 games with the Bulls. Felder was a second-round draft pick in 2016 and played 42 games for the Cavaliers before he was traded last offseason to the Hawks, who waived him.

Garnett Gives Lessons To Drummond, Ellenson

July 16th, 2018 at 9:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Pistons made arrangements to have Kevin Garnett work with two of their bigs, center Andre Drummond and power forward Henry Ellenson, Marc Stein of the New York Times tweets.

And-Ones: Billups, LeBron, Free Agency, Budinger

July 16th, 2018 at 8:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

ESPN analyst Chauncey Billups wants to run an NBA team in the near future, according to an Associated Press report. Billups turned down the Cavaliers’ GM job last summer, saying then it would tough to rebuild the team if LeBron James bolted. Rumors flew this summer that he’d be a candidate for a Pistons’ front-office post but he wasn’t seriously considered. “My desire is to one day run a team, be in a front office and try to build a champion,” Billups said. “I know that I will and I know I’m going to do a good job. When that opportunity presents itself, and it’s a good opportunity, I’ll be ready to go.”

In other news from around the league and overseas:

LeBron James will skip next week’s USA Basketball minicamp, Dave McMenamin of ESPN writes. It will be the first official session for USA Basketball with the Spurs’ Gregg Popovich as the head coach.
Dwyane Wade could be a bargain for the Heat or another team still shopping for a free agent guard, according to another AP story. Wade could probably be signed in the $5MM range. Vince Carter, Michael Beasley and restricted free agent Marcus Smart are three other veteran free agents who could offer value at a bargain rate, the story adds.
Former NBA forward Chase Budinger is pursuing a career in volleyball, Drew Ruiz of HoopsHype reports. Budinger is chasing an Olympic dream and has become a partner with two-time Olympian Sean Rosenthal on the AVP Beach Volleyball circuit. “That’s been a goal of mine since I was in high school, to be on an Olympic team and playing for the USA,” Budinger told Ruiz. Budinger’s NBA career ended after he played 17 games for the Suns in the second half of the 20015/16 season.
Former NBA guard Mike James has signed a lucrative offer sheet with Italy’s Olimpia Milano through the 2021 season, international expert David Pick tweets. James started 10 games for the Suns last season and appeared in 32 games overall, averaging 10.4 PPG and. 3.8 APG. After getting waived, he played four games with the Pelicans before getting waived again. He then had a second stint with Greece’s Panathinaikos Athens and won a championship.

Pistons Guarantee Reggie Bullock’s 2018/19 Salary

July 16th, 2018 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have opted to keep Reggie Bullock on their roster through his July 15 salary guarantee deadline, ensuring that his contract for 2018/19 will become guaranteed, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News.

While Beard classifies the move as Detroit picking up a “team option” on Bullock, the Pistons didn’t actually have to exercise an option to keep the veteran swingman on their roster. The club simply had to keep Bullock under contract – rather than waiving him by Sunday – to guarantee his $2.5MM salary for next season.

Bullock, 27, enjoyed a breakout year for the Pistons in 2017/18. After averaging just 3.0 PPG in 147 games over his first four NBA seasons, the former first-round pick posted 11.3 PPG on .489/.445/.796 shooting in 62 games (52 starts) last year. His performance made it an easy decision for the club to bring him back at a bargain price of $2.5MM.

Bullock will now be on track for unrestricted free agency in the summer of 2019. As for the Pistons, their team salary will remain at about $122.4MM, per Basketball Insiders, just shy of the $123.7MM tax line. The club still has room to fill out the last spot on its roster by signing second-rounder Khyri Thomas, but no deal is in place yet for the former Creighton standout.