SATURDAY, 11:58am: The signing is official, the Pistons announced today.
FRIDAY, 11:38am: The Pistons will sign Justin Harper to another 10-day contract, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy said today, according to Keith Langlois of Pistons.com (Twitter link). That’s no surprise, since Van Gundy remarked two days ago that he was leaning toward another 10-day deal with the power forward, as Rod Beard of The Detroit News wrote. Harper’s first 10-day deal expires tonight. The latest pact will represent a tiny investment of $49,709 with a larger decision looming afterward, since Detroit will have to either re-sign him for the season or let him walk.
Harper, 26, has averaged 3.3 points in 7.7 minutes per game across three appearances so far with the Pistons, who’ve given him his first regular season NBA action in four years. He played at a handful of stops overseas and in the D-League in between, and he was with the Nets for the preseason this past fall.
The collapse of Detroit’s trade for power forward Donatas Motiejunas and injuries to power forward Anthony Tolliver and small forward Stanley Johnson prompted the Pistons to turn to Harper. Tolliver is liable to miss two more weeks while Johnson is out through at least the weekend, Langlois tweets.