Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Central Notes: Stewart, LaVine, Sheppard, Walker, Mathurin

September 8th, 2024 at 12:59pm CST by Arthur Hill

Isaiah Stewart‘s role under new head coach J.B. Bickerstaff is among the questions facing the Pistons as they prepare for training camp, writes Keith Langlois of NBA.com. Stewart played nearly all his minutes at center during his first two NBA seasons, but that changed when the team added Jalen Duren in 2022. Langlois notes that Stewart was used at power forward 75% of the time last season, but his primary position is less certain than ever with a revamped roster.

Other than Stewart and Duren, offseason addition Paul Reed is Detroit’s only player who projects as a center. The Pistons claimed the four-year veteran after the Sixers waived him in July. Reed has shown promise backing up Joel Embiid in Philadelphia.

Detroit also added ex-Sixer Tobias Harris in free agency, and Langlois notes that he and Simone Fontecchio are examples of modern stretch fours. It’s possible that Bickerstaff could choose to dedicate the power forward minutes to those two proven three-point shooters, leaving Stewart to battle for playing time in the middle.

There’s more from the Central Division:

Mending fences with Zach LaVine should be one of the priorities for the Bulls as they get ready for camp, observes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. The front office began trying to trade LaVine last fall in what was hoped to be the first step of a roster makeover. However, his massive contract and injury history doomed trade efforts and forced the team to keep him. LaVine is still owed $138MM over the next three years, so the Bulls need to build up his trade value ahead of the February deadline. Cowley states that coach Billy Donovan took the first step toward mending their relationship when he visited LaVine in Los Angeles this summer.
With their roster virtually set for the upcoming season, the Pacers are facing three option decisions that should be easy, per Tony East of Sports Illustrated. Indiana has until October 31 to pick up the third-year options for Ben Sheppard and Jarace Walker, along with the fourth-year option for Bennedict Mathurin. All three players appear to be part of the team’s future, so there’s no reason to part with any of them. The options would pay Sheppard $2.8MM, Walker $6.6MM and Mathurin $9.1MM for the 2025/26 season.
The Pacers announced in a press release that they have added Dr. Jaimie Rubin as Director of Sport Psychology and Team Wellness.

Central Notes: Horton-Tucker, Bulls, Bucks, Pistons

September 5th, 2024 at 1:08pm CST by Rory Maher

Free agent guard Talen Horton-Tucker will reportedly be signing with his hometown Bulls. According to K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chicago, the five-year veteran will sign an Exhibit 10 deal for training camp.

Shams Charania of The Athletic, who broke the news of both deals, said that Horton-Tucker and Mac McClung (Magic) received partially guaranteed contracts. From the players’ perspective, that’s not wrong in a sense — the Exhibit 10 language in their contracts makes them eligible for a bonus worth $77.5K (on top of their G League salaries) if they’re waived and spend at least 60 days with their clubs’ NBAGL affiliates.

It is misleading though, because for NBA teams, Exhibit 10 deals are one-year, minimum-salary contracts that are non-guaranteed. For example, if Horton-Tucker is immediately cut after the deal is official, the Bulls won’t carry any dead money toward the salary cap. That’s different than a player like Keon Johnson — if the Nets waive him today for whatever reason, they would owe him his full $250K partial guarantee while carrying an identical dead-money cap hit for 2024/25.

Here’s more from the Central:

In another story for NBC Sports Chicago, Johnson attempts to predict the Bulls‘ starting lineup and rotation. Despite the obvious defensive shortcomings, Johnson believes Josh Giddey, Coby White, Zach LaVine, Patrick Williams and Nikola Vucevic is the “most logical” outcome for the starting five. However, only Ayo Dosunmu and free agent addition Jalen Smith seem like locks for rotation minutes off the bench, per Johnson.
Eric Nehm of The Athletic answers mailbag questions related to the Bucks, including whether they should reduce Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s workload during the upcoming season to try to keep him fresh ahead of a potential playoff run. Nehm also examines whether Taurean Prince could be used at power forward in small-ball lineups featuring Antetokounmpo at center.
Will the Pistons carry a 15th player on their standard roster to open the season? What about their remaining cap room — will they use it before the season starts or carry it over until the trade deadline? Keith Langlois of Pistons.com explores those questions.

Backup Point Likely Already On Roster

September 3rd, 2024 at 8:48pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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.

G League Notes: Simpson, Boeheim, McGowens, More

September 2nd, 2024 at 3:15pm CST by Tristan Tucker

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.

Nine NBA Teams Have Two-Way Contract Openings

September 1st, 2024 at 9:11am CST by Rory Maher

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.

And-Ones: Rookie Scale Extensions, $500MM Players, Beverley, Muhammad, T. Robinson

August 31st, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

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.

And-Ones: Marjanovic, Vucevic, Rebuilding Teams, Cauley-Stein

August 31st, 2024 at 11:53am CST by Dana Gauruder

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 Notes: Fan Survey, Langdon, Hardaway Jr., Beasley

August 29th, 2024 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

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.

And-Ones: Anthony, Toupane, 2024 Offseason Moves

August 29th, 2024 at 1:32pm CST by Rory Maher

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.

And-Ones: Diamond RSNs, Dragic, Nowtizki, Oppenheimer

August 23rd, 2024 at 8:20pm CST by Luke Adams

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.