Detroit Pistons Rumors | Hoops Rumors

And-Ones: Austin, Facebook, Postponement, Oriakhi

January 7th, 2017 at 9:53pm CST by Arthur Hill

Former Baylor standout Isaiah Austin, whose NBA dreams were derailed by health problems, has signed his first professional contract, tweets international journalist David Pick. Austin will join Red Star Belgrade affiliate FMP in the Adriatic League. He was considered to be a late first-round pick in the 2014 NBA draft before being diagnosed with Marfan syndrome. Austin received medical clearance to play again in late November. “He was told he’d never get a chance to play again, so he’s thrilled to get on the court,” said Austin’s agent, Dwon Clifton. “His talent is there; he hasn’t lost it; he loves the game.” (Twitter link).

There’s more basketball news to pass on tonight:

The NBA is preparing to stream its first game on Facebook, although it will only be available in India, the league announced on its website. The Kings will host the Warriors Sunday in the team’s fourth annual Bollywood Night, which features a celebration of Indian culture. It will be streamed to India on the Facebook pages of the NBA and both teams. “We are always looking for ways to utilize technology for opportunities to connect with our diverse group of fans throughout the world and are thrilled to engage with our followers in India tomorrow night,” said Warriors president and chief operating officer Rick Welts.
Tonight’s game between the Pistons and Trail Blazers was postponed because of severe weather conditions in Portland, according to a league statement. It will be made up Sunday night.
Alex Oriakhi, whose rights are owned by the Kings, has signed to play in Mexico, relays Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. The 6’9″ forward began the season in Turkey. His rights were acquired in the 2014 deal that sent Isaiah Thomas to Phoenix.

Allen Crabbe's Deal Could Be KCP Precedent

January 6th, 2017 at 10:51pm CST by Austin Kent

The Pistons have known all along that the pending free agency of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope could be tough to handle, but it would be an easier pill to swallow were they winning at the rate they enjoyed in 2015/16. According to Pistons.com editor Keith Langlois, Caldwell-Pope’s agents could use Allen Crabbe‘s four-year, $72MM deal with the Trail Blazers as a precedent and then ask for considerably more.

Caldwell-Pope averaged 36.7 minutes per game last season as the Pistons crept into the Eastern Conference playoff picture. Only three players, James Harden, Kyle Lowry and Jimmy Butler played more for their respective teams.

The Pistons already have four players owed over $10MM next season, including Andre Drummond who will collect $23.8MM, but the team will see Josh Smith‘s $14MM wiped as consolation.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 1/5/17

January 5th, 2017 at 6:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Thursday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

6:29pm:

The Warriors have assigned rookie center Damian Jones to their D-League affiliate, according to a team-issued press release. The big man has made four starts with the Santa Cruz Warriors so far this season.

3:33pm:

The Rockets have recalled rookie big man Chinanu Onuaku from the D-League, the team announced today (via Twitter). The 2016 second-rounder, who has earned a spot in highlight packages with his underhanded free throws, has averaged a double-double (11.8 PPG, 10.5 RPG) in 19 games for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers this season.
The Grizzlies have assigned Wade Baldwin and Troy Williams to the Iowa Energy, according to a press release issued by the team. The duo should get a chance to suit up for Memphis’ D-League affiliate tonight against the L.A. D-Fenders.

11:27am:

Richaun Holmes, who is recovering from a concussion, has been recalled from the D-League by the Sixers, according to a team release. Holmes had 14 points and seven rebounds for the Delaware 87ers on Wednesday night, and was apparently deemed ready to return to the NBA.
The Knicks recalled Maurice Ndour from the D-League after sending him down on Wednesday, the team announced (via Twitter). Ndour had a big game for Westchester last night, posting 26 points and nine rebounds.
Rookie forward Georges Niang has been sent to the D-League, according to a press release issued by the Pacers. Although he has played sparingly for Indiana so far, Niang has spent most of the season with the NBA club — this is just his second NBADL assignment.
The Pistons have recalled first-round rookie Henry Ellenson from the D-League, the team announced today in a press release. Ellenson recorded 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Grand Rapids Drive, Detroit’s D-League affiliate, in a Wednesday victory.

Bullock Could Return January 18; Van Gundy Remains Patient

January 5th, 2017 at 5:09pm CST by Austin Kent

Having recently returned to practice, it appears as though Reggie Bullock could return to action for the Pistons as early as the end of their upcoming west coast trip, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News. The Pistons play at home against the Hawks on January 18.
As both the coach on the sidelines and one of the executive charged with making personnel decision, Stan Van Gundy has his work cut out for him with the struggling Pistons. He voiced his perspective on the matter to MLive’s Aaron McMann. “We’re all frustrated, but you can’t make decisions out of frustration,” Van Gundy said. “You’ve got to try and have an objective analysis of what we’ve got and where we’re going and everything else.”

Bullock Returns To Practice; Baynes Injury Not As Bad As First Thought

January 4th, 2017 at 6:00pm CST by Austin Kent

Sidelined with a torn meniscus since November 23, Reggie Bullock has returned to practice for the Pistons, tweets Rod Beard of The Detroit News.
The ankle injury sustained by Aron Baynes isn’t as bad as it appeared, writes Beard in an article for The Detroit News. Though Baynes exited the game in a walking boot, he isn’t expected to miss significant time for the Pistons.

NBA D-League Assignments/Recalls: 1/4/17

January 4th, 2017 at 4:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Here are Wednesday’s D-League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:

4:25pm:

The Lakers have re-assigned rookie big man Ivica Zubac to the D-League (Twitter link). Zubac will be in uniform for the L.A. D-Fenders tomorrow night for the team’s game against Iowa.
The Pistons officially announced in a press release this afternoon that they’ve sent Henry Ellenson to the Grand Rapids Drive. As Keith Langlois of Pistons.com tweets, fellow rookie Michael Gbinije likely would’ve joined him, but he’s battling a forearm injury.
Forward Troy Williams has been recalled by the Grizzlies from his assignment with the Iowa Energy, per a team release. Williams averaged 24.3 PPG in three games during his D-League stint, including 32 in 28 minutes on December 27.

2:28pm:

Richaun Holmes, who has completed and passed all the elements of the NBA’s concussion protocol, has been assigned to the D-League by the Sixers, the team announced today in a press release. While some NBADL rehab assignments don’t include game action, the Sixers suggest that Holmes is expected to suit up tonight for the Delaware 87ers.

12:55pm:

A pair of Nuggets rookies, Malik Beasley and Juan Hernangomez, have been assigned to the D-League, according to a press release. Despite having a fairly young roster, Denver hasn’t used the D-League much this season, since the team doesn’t have its own affiliate. Beasley and Hernangomez will join the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s NBADL squad.
The Raptors have sent Bruno Caboclo and Fred VanVleet back to the D-League, the team announced today (via Twitter). The duo has bounced back and forth between the NBA and NBADL all season — it’s the 13th D-League assignment for Caboclo and the ninth for VanVleet.
Maurice Ndour is headed to the D-League, having been assigned to Westchester today by the Knicks (Twitter link). New York’s D-League affiliate is in action tonight against Grand Rapids, and Ndour is expected to suit up for the game.
The Suns have assigned rookie forward Derrick Jones to the D-League, the team announced today (Twitter link). It’s the fourth NBADL assignment of the season for Jones, who has averaged 14.0 PPG and 6.1 RPG in 14 games for Northern Arizona.

Pistons Notes: Jackson, Baynes, S. Johnson

January 2nd, 2017 at 11:21am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have lost seven of their last nine games, having slipped from 14-13 in mid-December to 16-20 now. However, the team’s second-half performance on Sunday in a win over the Heat was a strong one. As Keith Langlois of Pistons.com details, head coach Stan Van Gundy says his club can be “two totally different teams” depending on the night, and the team that showed up in the second half on Sunday is the one that he wants to see more regularly. Langlois points to a few encouraging signs for the team, including Reggie Jackson‘s improved play, and identifies a few other areas that still need to be addressed.

Here’s more from out of Detroit:

The Pistons may be without their backup center for the next little while, after Aron Baynes left Sunday’s game with a sprained ankle, per Aaron McMann of MLive.com. It remains to be seen how serious the injury is, but if Baynes has to miss time, Detroit will likely either use Jon Leuer at center or insert Boban Marjanovic into the rotation.
Stanley Johnson, who has returned to the Pistons’ rotation after falling out of it earlier in the season, is seeing his patience and extra work paying off, McMann writes in a separate MLive.com piece. Last month, a report suggested that the team had resisted trade overtures for 2015’s eighth overall pick.
With the season nearing its halfway point and the Pistons currently in 11th in the Eastern Conference, the team needs a quick fix to get back in contention, writes Rod Beard of The Detroit News. While Van Gundy has said he isn’t looking at the trade market at the moment, that might change if the club doesn’t start showing more signs of life in the coming weeks, Beard writes.

More Lineup Changes Coming: Bullock Closer To Return

December 30th, 2016 at 3:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy is promising another change in the starting lineup tonight, relays Rod Beard of The Detroit News. Van Gundy made the announcement after this morning’s shootaround, although he refused to say what the change will be. He shook up the rotation a week ago by making Jon Leuer a starter, and Leuer has joined Reggie Jackson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Marcus Morris and Andre Drummond in the starting five during Detroit’s past three games.

The Pistons didn’t get the boost they expected when point guard Reggie Jackson returned from a battle with knee tendinitis that sidelined him for six weeks, notes Tim Bontemps of The Washington Post. After going .500 without Jackson, the team has had difficulty adjusting to having him back on the court. “When I came back, I think I had one practice in general, so I didn’t have a lot of time to really get footing with my teammates and myself and know where I was at,” Jackson said. “So these games have been my practice and I’m just trying to get better daily.”

Officiating Report Adds Another Critic

December 29th, 2016 at 8:06pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy is the latest NBA figure to criticize the Last Two Minute Report regarding officiating in close games, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press.

Warriors forward Kevin Durant and Cavaliers forward LeBron James were both critical this week of the NBA’s practice of publicly reviewing officiating calls in the last two minutes of close games. Van Gundy has now joined the chorus.

In Cleveland’s one-point win over Golden State on Christmas Day, Durant felt he was tripped up on the final play of the game. But when the officiating report confirmed that, Durant felt it was unfair for the officials to be subject to additional scrutiny, claiming it makes them more tentative to do their jobs.

“The refs didn’t lose us that game,” Durant said. “We lost that game. I think it’s (terrible) the NBA throws the refs under the bus like that.”

Van Gundy agrees with that assessment, as he told Ellis and other reporters on Thursday.

“I understand Kevin Durant’s comments because the referee could have had a great game and, when they grade them out, he could have been great, but he makes one crucial bad call at the end of the game, and that’s all the public knows about,” Van Gundy said.

The report on the Cavs’ win also indicated that a technical should have been called against James for hanging on the rim. That prompted him to say the NBA should cut the officials some slack.

“I think it discredits what the referees are doing for 48 minutes,” he told the assembled media. “If that’s the case, you might as well do a 48-minute report.”

During the offseason, the referees’ union called on the league to stop releasing the report publicly. At the time, commisssioner Adam Silver defended the practice, saying transparency was the best policy.

“It’s our hope that you take the Last Two Minute Reports together with using a certain amount of replay that we’re building to build trust and integrity in the league,” he said. “People are going to recognize that we are going to make mistakes, the officials are going to make mistakes. Human error is going to be part of this game, just as it is with players. … I’d say largely what these Last Two Minute Reports are showing is that the referees get it right about 90 percent of the time.”

How do you feel in this hot button issue? Should the Two Minute Report stay or go? Weigh in on the comments section below.

Van Gundy: “Everything Is On The Table” To Stop Pistons’ Slide

December 29th, 2016 at 2:03pm CST by Luke Adams

After a solid home win against Cleveland earlier this week, the Pistons appeared to be on their way toward righting the ship, but Detroit suffered another bad home loss on Wednesday night, falling 119-94 to Milwaukee. It was the club’s sixth loss in seven games, prompting head coach Stan Van Gundy to point out that the mounting losses are jeopardizing the Pistons’ playoff chances (link via Rod Beard of The Detroit News).

“[We’re] certainly not out of it by any means,” Van Gundy said of his team, which is currently tied for 11th in the East with a 15-19 record. “But every loss puts you in more jeopardy, especially when you’re losing at home like we are. There’s no question that you have to understand that. You can’t run from the fact that all those losses are putting you in jeopardy.”

Van Gundy has already made some changes to the Pistons’ lineup and rotation in an effort to pull the team out of its funk, and with the losses piling up, he says that “everything is on the table” as a potential solution (Twitter link via Beard).

However, with nearly two months to go before February’s trade deadline, it sounds like Van Gundy still isn’t ready to seriously explore making a trade that would shake up the roster. According to Beard (via Twitter), Van Gundy said today that he hasn’t heard about teams calling Detroit with trade proposals. The Pistons’ president of basketball operations would rather work with what he has than blow things up.

“I’m focused on getting this group to play better and to try to figure this out,” Van Gundy said (link via Beard). “My focus is not on changing everything. I’ve seen this group win; I know this group can win. I know this group can be good; I know this group should be better than it is. I’m approaching it as a coaching issue. I’ve got a team that is underachieving where they should be, from a coaching standpoint. That’s how my thought process is right now: How do we get this team playing better, bringing more consistent energy?”

While Van Gundy may still have confidence in his current group, the team’s results over the next month or month and a half will go a long way toward determining whether another deadline deal will be required. The Pistons weren’t necessarily expected to be as active on the trade market at the 2017 deadline after making major moves in each of the past two Februarys.

The Pistons’ next opportunity to get back into the win column will come on Friday night in Atlanta.