Pistons Rumors

Pistons Signing Quincy Olivari

The Pistons are signing free agent guard Quincy Olivari, his agent Darrell Comer tells Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

Olivari, 24, had been on a two-way deal with the Lakers for part of 2024/25. The 6’3″ Xavier alum appeared in just two contests for Los Angeles last season after signing on with the club as an undrafted rookie.

The Lakers waived him in January 2025, and he finished his season with L.A.’s NBAGL affiliate, the South Bay Lakers. He suited up for Brooklyn’s Summer League club in July.

Across 31 outings with South Bay, including 29 starts, Olivari averaged 17.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.2 steals per game, with a shooting line of .401/.342/.781.

Details of the contract have yet to be revealed, although it seems likely given his limited experience that Olivari has agreed to a training camp deal with Exhibit 10 language.

Detroit currently has three other players — Charles Bediako, Dawson Garcia and Brice Williams — signed to Exhibit 10 deals. All three of the Pistons’ two-way contracts are occupied, while the team has 14 of its 15 standard roster spots filled.

Should Detroit cut Olivari before the start of the season and sign him to its affiliate team, the Motor City Cruise, Olivari could be eligible for a bonus worth up to $85,300 — provided he sticks with Motor City for at least 60 days.

Pistons Sign Four Players To Camp Deals

9:46 pm: The Pistons have waived Ukomadu, according to the NBA’s transaction log.


1:14 pm: The Pistons have signed center Charles Bediako, forwards Dawson Garcia and John Ukomadu, and wing Brice Williams to non-guaranteed training camp contracts, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).

Bediako, who went undrafted out of Alabama in 2023, has played in the G League for the past two seasons, first for the Austin Spurs and then for the Grand Rapids Gold. The seven-footer appeared in 50 games for the Gold last season, averaging 9.9 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks per contest, then had his returning rights traded to the Motor City Cruise (Detroit’s affiliate) earlier this week.

Garcia is an undrafted rookie who agreed to a deal with the Pistons in June after a five-year college career that included a three-year stint with the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The 6’11” forward put up 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 35.3 minutes per game in 32 outings as a super-senior in 2024/25, with a shooting line of .474/.373/.783.

Ukomadu played for Motor City last season after going undrafted out of Eastern Kentucky in 2024. The 6’7″ forward made 53.0% of shots from the floor, including 45.9% of his three-point tries, but played a relatively modest role for the Pistons’ NBAGL affiliate, averaging 8.2 points and 3.2 rebounds in 20.1 minutes per game.

Williams, like Dawson, went undrafted this June, then suited up for Detroit’s Summer League team in Las Vegas. In his final college season at Nebraska in 2024/25, he scored 20.4 points per game on .471/.370/.883 shooting in 35 appearances (all starts). he also contributed 4.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest.

All four players likely signed Exhibit 10 contracts, which are non-guaranteed minimum-salary deals that can be converted into two-way contracts before the start of the NBA regular season.

Since all three of the Pistons’ two-way slots are occupied, the more likely outcome for Bediako, Garcia, Ukomadu, and Williams is that they’re waived and then report to the Motor City Cruise — Bediako and Ukomadu would be returning-rights players, while Garcia and Williams could be designated as affiliate players. They’d be eligible to earn bonuses worth up to $85,300 if they spend at least 60 days with the Cruise.

Detroit now has a full 21-man offseason roster.

Central Notes: Toppin, Giddey, Pistons, Bucks

The Pacers will have to defend their Eastern Conference championship without Tyrese Haliburton, who will spend this season rehabbing from Achilles tendon surgery. Big man Obi Toppin still believes the Pacers can be “great” without their star guard.

“Ty brings so much to the team and it’s not hidden, everybody understands what he brings to the game,” Toppin told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “So it’s just something that everybody on the team has to do while we’re out there, just doing a little extra knowing what we’re missing and knowing what we need out there on the court and just continue playing Pacers basketball. We’ve built the system here and I feel like everybody has bought into the system. That’s why we’ve been so successful. If we continue doing that, we’re gonna still be great.”

Here’s more from the Central Division:

And-Ones: Roster Holes, G League Trades

With the start of training camp mere weeks away, Kevin Pelton of ESPN takes a look at the biggest 2025/26 roster holes for all 30 NBA teams.

Beyond the reigning champion Thunder, who will be bringing back their full playoff lineup and whose perceived biggest need is a fresh arena, Pelton believes every club has personnel issues.

Among top East contenders, Pelton posits that Cleveland could use some help along the wing with injured swingman Max Strus expected to be out for multiple months. Pelton notes that New York may want to add more proven veteran help to shore up its bench. In the West, Pelton observes that the Rockets and Nuggets could use help at the point, while Minnesota could benefit from some additional depth on the perimeter.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

  • The Pistons‘ G League club, the Motor City Cruise, has traded the returning player rights to big man Cameron Martin and guard Javante McCoy to the Nuggets‘ NBAGL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Gold, for the rights to center Charles Bediako and a 2026 international pick, Motor City has announced (Twitter link).
  • Raptors 905, the Raptors‘ NBAGL affiliate, is trading their rights to guard Kennedy Chandler to the Sixers‘ G League club, the Delaware Blue Coats, in exchange for wing Patrick McCaw and a future first-rounder, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter). Murphy tweets that some EuroLeague teams considered bringing McCaw aboard earlier in the offseason. McCaw has been in the G League for four seasons, and Murphy is unsure if he’ll continue suiting up close to NBA scouts or will take a more lucrative offer elsewhere.
  • In case you missed it, newly crowned EuroBasket MVP Dennis Schröder cited Hall of Fame countryman Dirk Nowitzki as the major inspiration who helped turn Germany into an international force.

Malik Beasley Remains Interested In Pistons Reunion

Malik Beasley‘s status for next season is still very much up in the air, but there’s still interest in a potential reunion with the Pistons, at least from the player’s side, writes Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press.

It’s definitely a place I want to be,” Beasley said following the Pistons’ playoff elimination at the hands of the Knicks. “To be here, my mom’s hometown, I grew up here a lot in the summertime. To be able to perform in front of this city is huge and I’m glad I got a chance to do that.”

Beasley became just the fifth player in NBA history to hit 300 three-pointers in a season, Sankofa notes, and was the runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year during his lone season in Detroit. He also became a valuable locker room presence for the young up-and-coming team.

Thanks to his and the team’s success, the Pistons entered the summer with the intention of signing the veteran guard to a three-year, $42MM deal, but the reports of Beasley’s status at the center of a federal gambling investigation threw his playing status into doubt and caused the team to pursue other options: notably, signing Caris LeVert and executing a sign-and-trade for Duncan Robinson.

Beasley’s lawyer, Steve Haney, confirmed that despite still being under a league investigation, Beasley is looking forward to next season — and remains interested in a reunion with the Pistons.

I do know that Malik, if there’s a pathway, would like to look at being considered to play for Detroit again next season,” Haney said. “I’m not his agent, though, so I don’t know if there’s still interest there, I don’t know if there’s still money there, what the mutual level of interest there is in him returning to Detroit. I know that he’s got a lot of love for Detroit and would like to, if possible, look at maybe coming back.”

The Pistons currently have 13 fully guaranteed contracts, plus Javonte Green‘s partially guaranteed minimum deal. The team holds Beasley’s Non-Bird rights, meaning it could offer him a multi-year deal with an initial annual salary worth up to $7.2MM. If Detroit were to sign him to a four-year deal, it would likely come to around $31MM in totality, marking at least an $11MM drop from the contract Beasley entered the summer expecting to land.

The Cavaliers, Knicks, and Timberwolves had previously expressed interest in Beasley, though the Knicks have began filling out their training camp roster with veterans that have a similar skill set in Landry Shamet, Malcolm Brogdon, and Garrison Mathews, and are reportedly interested in keeping at least two of the three.

Pistons Notes: Extensions, Thompson, Expectations, Predictions

Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren are both approaching the October 20 deadline to sign contract extensions with the Pistons. With that clock ticking down, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press examines several deals that could help set the market for Ivey and Duren as they enter extension negotiations.

Sankofa notes that the two young players had stretches of excellent play, but due to Ivey’s mid-season injury and Duren’s slow start, there are still questions that revolve around the duo’s long-term value to the organization.

Sankofa looks at Josh Giddey and his recent four-year, $100MM deal with the Bulls as a good measuring stick deal for Duren and Ivey. He also cites Jabari Smith Jr.‘s five-year, $122MM extension as well as Alperen Sengun‘s five-year, $185MM contracts with the Rockets, and Trey Murphy III‘s four-year, $112MM extension with the Pelicans as potential comparables for the two Pistons players.

While this offseason has been a difficult one for restricted free agents, next summer is set to have many more teams with cap space, which Sankofa speculates could convince one or both of Ivey and Duren to play out the season without a new deal to explore the marketplace.

We have more from the Pistons:

  • While having a full offseason could pay major dividends for Ivey as he recovers from his leg injury, it may benefit Ausar Thompson to an even greater extent, writes Hunter Patterson for The Athletic. Patterson notes that after missing last summer while recovering from a blood clot, conditioning was an occasional issue for the hard-playing Thompson. Patterson believes that having a summer to reach maximum conditioning while carrying over momentum from an encouraging playoff series against the Knicks could do wonders for Thompson’s development. Patterson is also encouraged by the synergy displayed between Thompson and franchise cornerstone Cade Cunningham, believing that the athletic wing and versatile point guard have games that blend together very effectively.
  • The Pistons jumped from 14 wins to 44 wins last season, earning the No. 6 seed in the East. While there is less room for such a dramatic improvement this season, Patterson predicts the team can take the next step and become a top-five seed in 2025/26, though he believes the Magic’s trade for Desmond Bane will give them the edge over the Pistons.
  • Pistons president Trajan Langdon is aware of the pressure coming off such an unexpectedly dramatic turnaround, but he’s not going to rush the team’s growth, writes Keith Langlois for NBA.com. Instead, Langdon is prioritizing building the right way and expecting results to follow from that blueprint. Langlois notes that the Pistons could have tried to push some chips in for a big move this summer in light of the uncertainty surrounding teams like the Pacers, Celtics, Bucks, and Sixers, but chose to make moves on the margin that would enhance the young core of the team. Because of that, Langlois writes, Langdon will likely judge the team’s success more on the growth of the young core, both individually and as a group, rather than strictly by wins added.

NBA Conducting Own Investigation Into Malik Beasley

The NBA is conducting its own investigation into Malik Beasley related to allegations of improper gambling on games and prop bets, the league confirmed to ESPN’s David Purdum. Beasley is “fully cooperating” in that probe, attorney Steve Haney told ESPN.

Word broke in June, just ahead of his free agency, that the veteran sharpshooter was under investigation by the U.S. District Attorney’s office due to unusual betting activity on Beasley-related wagers during the 2023/24 season.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported in August that Beasley is no longer a “target” in that investigation, though subsequent reports indicated that he’s still a “subject” of the investigation, meaning he’s not entirely in the clear.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets, the NBA has the right to investigate a case and hand out its own penalty (e.g. a fine or suspension) unless a player is explicitly found not guilty in a court of law. So even if federal investigators don’t charge Beasley, that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t face any punishment from the league, though presumably the findings in both investigations will be similar.

Investigators in the case are reportedly focused on unusually heavy betting activity on Beasley’s statistics in January 2024, including a Jan. 31 game in which action on his “under 2.5 rebounds” prop bet surged significantly in the hours leading up to tip-off — he ended up grabbing six rebounds in that game, meaning the bets deemed unusual lost.

The NBA’s investigation into Beasley is believed to be in its final stages, a source familiar with the situation tells Purdum. For what it’s worth, the 28-year-old wing recently published an Instagram post in which he stated that “my decision is near,” which may be a reference to a free agency decision.

Beasley and the Pistons were reportedly deep in talks on a three-year, $42MM deal before word of the federal investigation broke and Detroit pulled that offer. The Pistons no longer have the cap space or exceptions available to make that sort of offer for Beasley, but could go up to a starting salary of $7.2MM using his Non-Bird rights.

The Cavaliers, Knicks, and Timberwolves are among the other teams said to have registered interest in Beasley. He’s coming off a strong season in Detroit in which he was the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up after averaging 16.3 points per game and finishing second in the NBA in three-pointers made (319).

NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Detroit Pistons

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Detroit Pistons.


Free agent signings

  • Duncan Robinson: Three years, $47,978,871. Second year partially guaranteed ($2MM). Third year non-guaranteed. Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Heat.
  • Caris LeVert: Two years, $28,913,200. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
  • Paul Reed: Two years, $10,938,583. Second year non-guaranteed. Re-signed using Early Bird rights.
  • Javonte Green: One year, minimum salary. Partially guaranteed ($925,106). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

  • Acquired Duncan Robinson (sign-and-trade) from the Heat in exchange for Simone Fontecchio.
  • Acquired the Hornets’ 2026 second-round pick (top-55 protected) from the Kings in exchange for Dennis Schröder (sign-and-trade) and either the Pistons’, Bucks’, or Knicks’ 2029 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).

Draft picks

  • 2-37: Chaz Lanier
    • Signed to four-year, $8,785,386 contract. First two years guaranteed. Third year non-guaranteed. Fourth-year team option.

Two-way signings

Note: The Pistons carried over Tolu Smith on a two-way contract from 2024/25.

Departed/unsigned free agents

Other roster moves

Salary cap situation

  • Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and below the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
  • Carrying approximately $166.8MM in salary.
  • Hard-capped at $195,945,000.
  • Full bi-annual exception ($5,134,000) available.
  • One traded player exception available (worth $14,104,000).

The offseason so far

After a franchise-worst 2023/24 season in which they endured a 28-game losing streak and registered just 14 total victories, the Pistons were one of the NBA’s most pleasant surprises last year, improving by 30 wins to 44-38, making the playoffs for the first time since 2019, and picking up a postseason victory for the first time since 2008 (they’d been swept out of the first round in 2009, 2016, and 2019).

Heading into the offseason, there was speculation that Detroit would try to keep the band together by re-signing free agents Malik Beasley, Dennis Schröder, and Tim Hardaway Jr. — with Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren still on the rise and Jaden Ivey returning from a season-ending injury, there was a pathway for the Pistons to keep improving internally without necessarily having to make any sort of impact outside addition.

It’s entirely possible that was the initial plan, but if so, it was derailed the day before free agency opened when word broke that Beasley was under investigation by the U.S. District Attorney’s office for gambling allegations involving NBA games and prop bets. Reporting at the time indicated that the Pistons and Beasley were working toward a three-year, $42MM contract agreement, but those talks fell apart as the sharpshooter’s NBA future turned into a giant question mark.

The terms of that proposed deal suggests Detroit intended to either use cap room or its mid-level exception to re-sign Beasley, since they only held his Non-Bird rights. The mid-level route would’ve allowed the Pistons to operate over the cap, maintaining Hardaway’s Bird rights and Schröder’s Early Bird rights, which would’ve put them in position to re-sign both players.

But even before word of the Beasley investigation broke, there were reports suggesting that the Kings intended to make an aggressive play for Schröder. That turned out to be accurate, as Sacramento signed the veteran point guard to a contract equivalent to the full mid-level exception. Hardaway, meanwhile, landed with the Nuggets on a minimum-salary deal, an offer the Pistons could’ve easily topped if they’d made the free agent wing a top priority.

Given what happened with Schröder and Hardaway, we can probably assume then that even if they’d re-signed Beasley, the Pistons were committed to making some offseason changes. Without Schröder, Hardaway, or Beasley, a more drastic overhaul of the club’s supporting cast was necessary.

The Pistons made an effort to replace Beasley’s shooting by sending Simone Fontecchio to Miami in a sign-and-trade deal for forward Duncan Robinson. Beasley is more athletic and versatile than Robinson, but few players shoot the three-ball better than the longtime Heat forward, who has knocked down 39.9% of 7.3 attempts per game over the past six seasons.

While the terms originally reported for Robinson (three years, $48MM) raised eyebrows, his deal is only fully guaranteed in year one, with a $2MM partial guarantee for 2026/27. So the Pistons will have an exit ramp next summer if the first season doesn’t go as planned (or perhaps if Beasley is fully cleared and wants to return).

Having preserved their mid-level exception by acquiring Robinson via sign-and-trade, the Pistons were able to devote that full MLE to signing Caris LeVert, whom J.B. Bickerstaff previously coached in Cleveland. In LeVert, Detroit is getting something of an amalgamation of the three veteran free agents they lost — LeVert can score (albeit not shoot) like Beasley, can serve as a ball-handler like Schröder, and has a frame more like Hardaway’s, allowing him to defend bigger wings instead of just guards.

It still feels like the Pistons could use one more roster addition, and they do have the ability to go out and get one more player — they generated a $14.1MM trade exception in the Schröder sign-and-trade and have more than enough room under the luxury tax line to use the entire thing. But with no obvious target out there for now, Detroit will probably see what its rotation looks like this fall with the newcomers and Ivey back in the mix.

For what it’s worth, minimum-salary signee Javonte Green could make a case for regular minutes, and Beasley remains an option if it looks like he’s in the clear from a legal perspective. He’s no longer a “target” of the federal gambling investigation, but he remains a “subject” of interest. The Pistons still hold Beasley’s Non-Bird rights, giving them the ability to offer him a starting salary worth up to $7.2MM. Now that the market has mostly moved on, that could be the best offer he’ll get this year.

The Pistons made two other minor offseason moves worth mentioning. Detroit was rumored to have some interest in a stretch big like Myles Turner, Naz Reid, or Santi Aldama, but with those top targets out of reach, the team fortified its depth up front by reuniting with Paul Reed, who signed a two-year, $10.9MM deal.

Reed isn’t a long-term answer in the middle and the Pistons presumably don’t view him as such (only the first year of his contract is guaranteed), but he’s a familiar and reliable depth option who can play a modest role while the team continues to consider ways to upgrade its frontcourt.

Finally, having finally conveyed a traded first-round pick to Minnesota after it landed in its protected range for several years in a row, the Pistons only had a second-round pick available in June. They used that selection – No. 37 overall – to nab Tennessee’s Chaz Lanier, a five-year college player who may be polished enough to compete for a rotation role right away.


Up next

As noted above, the Pistons still have a pretty sizable trade exception available and have enough flexibility to add another $20MM to their cap sheet for 2025/26 without going into luxury tax territory. With that in mind, they’re a team worth keeping an eye on as trade talks pick up again this fall. Few playoff clubs have a more favorable short-term cap situation than the Pistons, making them an obvious candidate to make one more move before or during the season.

Detroit is currently carrying 13 players on guaranteed contracts, plus Green on a partially guaranteed minimum-salary deal, so even if they don’t do anything major before opening night, the Pistons could add a 15th man in free agency.

The more pressing preseason issue for the front office in the next month-and-a-half will be whether to complete rookie scale extensions with Duren and Ivey. Both players will be eligible for new deals up until October 20 and would become eligible for restricted free agency next summer if they don’t get something done this year.

Even with some teams around the league showing more reluctance this year to invest heavily in non-stars coming off their rookie deals, Duren seems poised to cash in. He has averaged double-doubles in consecutive seasons and is growing as a play-maker and rim protector. He’s also still just 21 years old, and with the Pistons’ long-term cap sheet relatively clean, the front office can afford to make a strong commitment to him, perhaps even via a front-loaded or flat contract that gets more team-friendly in the later years.

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report suggested a four-year, $112MM deal for Duren, while John Hollinger of The Athletic speculated that a five-year, $125MM arrangement might make sense for both sides. It looks like the four-year, $97MM contract signed by Nic Claxton last summer might be the floor for the Pistons’ big man.

Ivey, on the other hand, may have to wait until 2026 to cash in. His season ended in early January due to a broken leg, and while he appeared headed for a career year at the time, the Pistons will probably want to longer look at him in 2025/26 to see how he fits back into the mix — and to make sure that last season’s injury won’t have any lingering effects.

Central Notes: Beasley, Pistons, Cavaliers

Free agent former Pistons swingman Malik Beasley has touched back down in Detroit, reports Robert Snell of The Detroit News (subscriber link). After coughing up $38K in delinquent money owed, he has moved back into the apartment from which he was evicted last month.

According to Snell, the 6’4″ sharpshooter maintains interest in re-signing with the Pistons for the 2025/26 season. His free agency this summer has been marred by a federal gambling investigation. He is no longer considered a “target” in the probe, but he remains a possible “subject”, so he isn’t entirely in the clear.

Detroit could sign Beasley using his Non-Bird rights for as much as $7.2MM.

He enjoyed a terrific run during his inaugural season with the club, helping the Pistons notch a 44-38 record and return to the playoffs for the first time in six years.

While playing all 82 games for Detroit, mostly as a reserve, Beasley averaged 16.3 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 1.7 APG and 0.9 SPG in just 27.8 MPG. He also connected on 41.6% of his triple tries and finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting.

There’s more out of the Central Division:

  • With just one open standard roster spot left to potentially fill, the Pistons‘ personnel appears to be (mostly) pretty set for 2025/26. Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link) projects the club’s depth chart for the new year, including how he thinks the team will integrate new free agent wing signings Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert.
  • The Cavaliers will hold their training camp at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida for a second straight year, per Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. “Returning to IMG Academy is a testament to the tremendous experience we had there last year,” team president Koby Altman said. “The overall engagement, both at the Bradenton facility and throughout the community, was an invaluable part of our preparations.” The Cavs’ camp will take place from September 30 to October 5.
  • In case you missed it, Bulls center Nikola Vucevic announced his retirement from offseason competitions for the Montenegrin national team.

And-Ones: Top Wings, Expectations, Hughes, G League Trade

LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard stand atop The Bounce’s ranking of the NBA’s top 40 wins, according to The Athletic’s Zach Harper, who classifies those three stars as all-time legends who are still elite. Harper’s second tier, comprised of All-NBA level performers, includes Jimmy Butler, Jaylen Brown, Paul George and Jalen Williams.

We have more from the basketball world:

  • Which NBA teams will exceed their predicted win total? Which will fall below expectations? ESPN’s Tim Bontemps makes his selections on five teams for each side of the ledger, with the Thunder and Clippers among the clubs on the plus side and the Pistons and Mavericks that won’t reach their projected records.
  • Former NBA player and coach Kim Hughes has died, according to an Instagram post from former NBA center Meyers Leonard. Hughes, 73, played in the ABA and NBA from 1975-81. Following his playing career, Hughes worked as a scout and assistant coach, most recently with the Trail Blazers through the 2014/15 season. He also had a 33-game stint as the Clippers‘ head coach during the 2009/10 season.
  • The Noblesville Boom, the Pacers‘ NBA G League affiliate, recently acquired the returning player rights to forward Jalen Slawson from the Birmingham Squadron, the Pelicans‘ G League affiliate, in exchange for returning player rights to center Garrison Brooks, according to a team press release. Slawson played for the Osceola Magic last season, averaging 11.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Brooks has played in Lithuania the past two seasons.