Stanley Umude Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons’ Stanley Umude Out For Season With Fractured Ankle

March 22nd, 2024 at 3:20pm CST by Rory Maher

Pistons wing Stanley Umude will miss the remainder of the 2023/24 season after sustaining a hairline fracture of his right ankle on Wednesday vs. Indiana, the team announced in a press release.

Umude’s injury will not require surgery and he’s expected to make a full recovery, per the Pistons.

A second-year guard/forward, Umude spent most of this season on a two-way contract with Detroit before the team converted him to a standard deal last month. The Pistons hold a minimum-salary team option on the 24-year-old for ’24/25.

Umude appeared in 24 games in ’23/24, averaging 5.3 points and 2.1 rebounds with a strong .440/.453/.906 shooting line in a small sample size (12.8 MPG). Amid injuries to several rotation players, including Ausar Thompson (blood clot) and Isaiah Stewart (right hamstring strain), who are also done for the season, Umude had started the past two games, playing a career-high 34 minutes on Monday vs. Boston.

Simone Fontecchio (left great toe contusion), Taj Gibson (right hamstring soreness) and Quentin Grimes (right knee contusion) are the other Pistons who have been ruled out for Friday’s rematch with the Celtics.

Tosan Evbuomwan, Evan Fournier and Troy Brown are among the players who could receive more playing time on the wing for a shorthanded Detroit squad.

Pistons Notes: Fournier, Grimes, Umude, Draft, Offseason

February 26th, 2024 at 6:10pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Evan Fournier seemed to be a potential buyout candidate when he was traded from the Knicks to the Pistons. However, Marc Stein reports in his latest Substack post that all signs point to Fournier remaining on Detroit’s roster for the rest of the season.

Players must be waived by Friday afternoon to become playoff eligible with his next team. Fournier has appeared in four games with the Pistons, one more than he did with the Knicks this season, averaging 11.5 points in 21.5 minutes with his current club.

We have more on the Pistons:

Detroit’s game against the Knicks on Monday night features two former New York players — Fournier and Quentin Grimes — and two former Pistons — Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks — who were dealt for each other at this month’s deadline. Grimes admitted during Detroit’s shootaround he was jacked up for the contest. “I really don’t look at it like, ‘Oh, I got to go off or something,’” Grimes told Stefan Bondy of the New York Post. “But you do get a little extra oomph when you wake up and try to go off against a team that traded you.” Grimes lost his starting spot prior to getting traded and knew he wasn’t long for New York. “I knew it was going to happen. I didn’t know it would be Detroit. It was a few teams,” he said. “But I knew it was going to happen, for sure.”
Stanley Umude‘s two-year contract includes a team option for next season, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets. Umude had his two-way contract converted to a standard, minimum-salary deal last week.
This year’s draft doesn’t have any surefire stars but the Pistons will have a high lottery pick again. Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press takes a look at eight potential lottery picks and considers how they might fit in with the team’s core players.
The additions of wings Grimes and Simone Fontecchio will allow the front office to concentrate the Pistons’ resources on one or two high-value targets with their cap space this summer, rather than spreading money around to cover multiple needs, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes.
In case you missed it, rookie guard Marcus Sasser will be sidelined at least a week due to a right knee contusion.

Pistons Officially Confirm Reported Roster Moves

February 23rd, 2024 at 11:29am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have officially issued a press release (Twitter link) to formally confirm that three previously reported roster moves have been finalized. Those roster moves are as follows:

Promoted Stanley Umude to a standard contract (story)
Signed Buddy Boeheim to a two-way contract (story)
Signed Tosan Evbuomwan to a two-way contract (story)

All three transactions were reported on Thursday, but Evbuomwan’s 10-day contract with Detroit was still active through last night’s game in Indiana, so the team waited an extra day for it to expire before essentially swapping his and Umude’s spots on the 18-man roster. Boeheim’s two-way deal was completed at the same time.

The Pistons now have a full squad, with Umude taking the 15th spot on the standard roster while Evbuomwan and Boeheim join Jared Rhoden as Detroit’s two-way players.

A player who signs a two-way contract during the season is subject to a prorated portion of the usual 50-game limit, so Evbuomwan and Boeheim will each be eligible to be active for up to 15 of the team’s remaining NBA games this season.

For more information on the three players involved in the Pistons’ latest transactions, be sure to check out our previous full stories on each move.

Pistons Converting Stanley Umude To Standard Contract

February 22nd, 2024 at 3:35pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pistons plan to give Stanley Umude a promotion, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the second-year guard/forward will have his two-way contract converted into a standard two-year deal.

Umude, 24, has appeared in 17 games this season for Detroit, averaging 5.2 points and 1.8 rebounds on .481/.548/.917 shooting in 11.2 minutes per contest. He has also played 22 games (32.6 minutes) for the Pistons’ G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, averaging 17.1 points and 5.8 rebounds on .397/.345/.774 shooting.

Umude went undrafted in 2022 out of Arkansas and spent training camp with Detroit, spending most of his rookie campaign with the Cruise. He made one appearance with the Pistons last season while on a 10-day deal.

The Pistons have been busy on Thursday, having reached agreements to sign Cruise member Buddy Boeheim to a two-way deal, convert Umude to a standard contract, and give Tosan Evbuomwan the two-way slot previously held by Umude.

Central Notes: Umude, Stewart, Theis, Giannis

November 7th, 2023 at 7:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pistons two-way player Stanley Umude made the most of his opportunity to play on Monday, Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press writes. With Detroit missing seven players due to injuries and illness, Umude received extended minutes off the bench and supplied 15 points against Golden State.

Umude thanked coach Monty Williams afterward.

“It meant a lot to me because it showed that he was watching me and he cared about what I was doing, no matter what my contract situation is,” Umude said. “It meant a lot for me just going into the game with focus. It’s not even about making shots. It’s just about being ready to play, being ready to help the team in any way I can.”

We have more from the Central Division:

Isaiah Stewart put in plenty of work during the summer with the aim of becoming a stretch four, as James Edwards III of The Athletic details. The Pistons power forward even spent extensive hours in a YMCA in Rochester, N.Y. trying to refine his shooting stroke. Trainer Scott Finch tweaked his release and Stewart has made 46.4% of his 3-point attempts this season. “I feel like I can shoot with the best,” said Stewart, who signed a four-year extension this summer.
Daniel Theis, who expressed displeasure with his lack of minutes, hasn’t been able to crack the Pacers’ rotation and coach Rick Carlisle explained his reasoning, Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star tweets. “Jalen Smith has really won the (backup center) position. … Daniel is a very good player, no question about it, and he’s working really hard to stay ready. I know he doesn’t like sitting, but he’s being professional about it,” Carlisle said. Smith is averaging 11.2 points and 6.2 rebounds. The club holds a $9,522,404 option on Theis’ contract for next season, which seems likely to be declined.
The Bucks have won their last two games, but Giannis Antetokounmpo isn’t happy with the team’s defense. Milwaukee gave up 125 points to Brooklyn on Monday. “I hope we can be better defensively,” Antetokounmpo told Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I feel like our gaps wasn’t tight. Guys felt comfortable going one-on-one and getting to the rim, drawing fouls. Our help defense has got to be better.”

Pistons Notes: Bogdanovic, Morris, Hayes, Umude, Predictions, Thompson

October 23rd, 2023 at 9:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Bojan Bogdanovic (right calf soreness) and Monte Morris (lower back tightness) won’t play in the Pistons’ opener in Miami on Wednesday, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press.

Bogdanovic’s absence will alter the lineup, as he’s penciled as the starting small forward. Morris, acquired from Washington in a trade, is expected to play a key role off the bench.

Killian Hayes, who has been dealing with a left knee sprain, practiced in full on Sunday after missing Friday’s preseason finale. He might fill in for Bogdanovic in the starting lineup.

We have more on the Pistons:

Detroit converted Stanley Umude to a two-way contract on Monday and it was a popular move in the locker room, Sankofa tweets in a video link. “That was probably the best part. seeing how happy they were for me. .. seeing that they knew how hard I worked for it,” Umude said.
Will the Pistons make a trade packaging multiple players? That’s one of the predictions James Edwards III of The Athletic makes, among nine others, regarding this season. Edwards also believes Ausar Thompson will be a All-Rookie First Team selection.
Expanding on that topic, coach Monty Williams marvels at how Thompson has an uncanny ability to snatch rebounds, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com notes. “Some of the rebounds he comes up with, I mean, you catch yourself on the bench, like, ‘Did you see that?’ ” Williams said. “I think there’s some stat about since Summer League, he’s gotten eight-plus rebounds every time he steps on the floor.”

Stanley Umude Gets Two-Way Contract With Pistons

October 23rd, 2023 at 11:37am CST by Arthur Hill

11:37am: The Pistons have confirmed Umude’s two-way contract (Twitter link).

7:58am: The Pistons will convert Stanley Umude‘s Exhibit 10 contract to a two-way deal, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 24-year-old shooting guard signed with Detroit last fall after going undrafted out of Arkansas. He spent most of the season with the team’s G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, but made a brief appearance in one NBA game after signing a 10-day contract in February. He also played for the Pistons in this year’s Summer League.

Umude earned the two-way slot with a strong preseason, averaging 9.3 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in four games while shooting 45.5% from the field and 43.8% from three-point range.

Detroit now has all its two-way spots filled, with Jared Rhoden and Malcolm Cazalon holding the others. With 14 players on standard contracts, the team has one opening on its 15-man roster.

Pistons Sign, Waive David Nwaba, Three Others

October 21st, 2023 at 4:41pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons have completed a series of signings ahead of the regular season, announcing today (via Twitter) that wings David Nwaba and Treveon Graham, forward/center Nate Roberts, and forward Ryan Turell all received Exhibit 10 deals from the team.

All four players were later waived, per NBA.com’s transaction log. According to the Pistons (Twitter link), camp invitees Buddy Boeheim, Tosan Evbuomwan, Jontay Porter, and Zavier Simpson were originally cut to make room for the new signees.

Of the four newly signed players, Nwaba has the most NBA experience, having appeared in 237 regular season games from 2017-22 for the Lakers, Bulls, Cavaliers, Nets, and Rockets. He averaged 6.8 points and 3.7 rebounds in 19.3 minutes per game at the NBA level, but didn’t play in the league last season, instead spending most of the season with the Motor City Cruise’s Detroit’s G League affiliate.

Nwaba put up 15.8 PPG, 8.6 RPG, and 3.1 APG in 27 games (32.1 MPG) for the Cruise last season and appears likely to rejoin the team in 2022/23. His Exhibit 10 contract will put him in line for a bonus worth up to $75K as long as he spends at least 60 days with the club. Graham, Roberts, Turell, Boeheim, Evbuomwan, Porter, and Simpson figure to be headed to the Cruise as well.

Graham, who will turn 30 next Saturday, has 180 games of NBA experience under his belt, but hasn’t been in the league since the 2019/20 season. The former VCU standout has played in the G League and in the Canadian Elite Basketball League since then.

Roberts and Turrell – who went undrafted in 2022 out of Washington and Yeshiva, respectively – were both role players for Motor City last season. The Cruise still control their returning rights.

Notably, Detroit’s series of roster moves didn’t involve Stanley Umude, a training camp standout who was also on an Exhibit 10 deal. The Pistons still have one open 15-man slot and one open two-way slot — Umude looks like a prime candidate to fill one of those openings.

Evaluating NBA’s Open Two-Way Contract Slots

October 16th, 2023 at 5:53pm CST by Tristan Tucker

As our two-way contract tracker shows, 81 of the 90 available two-way slots available around the NBA are currently occupied, with nine still open as of Friday afternoon.

With the start of the season rapidly approaching, teams will begin cutting down their rosters en masse around October 21, which ensures players clear waivers before the start of the season on October 24. One way teams will manage their rosters before the season is by converting certain Exhibit 10 players to two-way contracts.

Let’s take a look at each open two-way spot on a team-by-team basis and consider who could potentially fill those spots.

Brooklyn Nets

Open two-way spots: 1

The Nets are an interesting case because they don’t currently have anyone signed to the roster that makes sense as a two-way option.

They are reportedly signing Patrick Gardner to an Exhibit 10 deal, though that has yet to happen. Harry Giles, while technically eligible for a two-way deal, is not an option because he is signed to only an Exhibit 9 contract, which are ineligible to be converted if they don’t also include Exhibit 10 language.

For now, it seems as though Brooklyn will either keep the slot open to begin the year, claim someone on waivers from another team, or sign an outside option.

Dallas Mavericks

Open two-way spots: 2

Dallas waived Mike Miles on Saturday, giving them two open two-way contract spots. Two logical options to fill those spots, as we wrote, are training camp invitees Greg Brown and Dexter Dennis. Brown is still just 22 with two NBA seasons under his belt and was a consensus five-star prospect out of high school. Dennis averaged 9.5 points and 5.7 rebounds with Texas A&M in his final collegiate season.

The Mavericks also signed Taze Moore to a camp deal on Monday, who averaged 10.4 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.6 steals in his final collegiate season with Houston. All three appear to be in play for those final spots, though outside options are always possible.

Detroit Pistons

Open two-way spots: 1

The Pistons have one open standard spot, as well as their open two-way slot. It’s unclear what their plans are with those spots, but it’s possible they give both to players currently on their training camp roster. Stanley Umude, Tosan Evbuomwan, Buddy Boeheim, Zavier Simpson and Jontay Porter are signed to Exhibit 10 deals with Detroit.

Umude appears to have the inside track to a roster spot, whether standard or a two-way deal, given his play in the preseason. However, the Pistons are in a good position to claim a young player on waivers from another team if they chose to, so I’d expect them to at least explore that option.

New Orleans Pelicans

Open two-way spots: 1

The Pelicans also have one open standard spot in addition to their open two-way spot, but given their proximity to the tax, I’d expect them to keep their 15th standard spot open.

That leaves one two-way spot, and they have five players currently signed to Exhibit 10 deals in Jalen Crutcher, Izaiah Brockington, Trey Jemison, Tevian Jones and Malcolm Hill. Jemison, who was once reportedly eyed for a two-way with Phoenix, has been impressive in the preseason and a promotion to a two-way deal wouldn’t be surprising.

Orlando Magic

Open two-way spots: 1

Orlando has a talented crop of players signed to Exhibit 10 deals, including last year’s dunk contest champion Mac McClung. Joining McClung are Trevelin Queen, Brandon Williams and Miye Oni, all of whom have NBA experience.

The Magic traded for the G League rights to McClung and Williams earlier this offseason, which could indicate they don’t plan to convert either given that they have secured their potential G League services However, I expect both to have a chance to make the roster.

Phoenix Suns

Open two-way spots: 1

The Suns don’t have any players currently signed to training camp deals, so it’s hard to predict what they’ll do with these slots. Historically, Phoenix has used their two-way spots to sign players who are older and/or have NBA experience. Ish Wainright and Duane Washington are two such examples and they have Udoka Azubuike and Saben Lee already on board who both fit that bill.

Given that Phoenix is the only team without a G League affiliate for the upcoming season, it’d track that whoever they sign to fill that spot, if any player, would also fulfill that criteria.

San Antonio Spurs

Open two-way spots: 1

Charles Bediako is the only player the Spurs have signed to an Exhibit 10 deal as of Friday afternoon, so he could be a logical option to fill San Antonio’s last two-way contract. Bediako was ESPN’s fifth-best ranked undrafted free agent after the 2023 draft and eight of the top 10 signed two-way deals following the draft (Miles was later waived).

Washington Wizards

Open two-way spots: 1

The Wizards are in the process of cycling through Exhibit 10 players, so I’m not 100% convinced they move either Jules Bernard or Michael Foster Jr., their two current Exhibit 10 signees, to two-way slots. Bernard isn’t a bad bet though — he averaged 15.3 points for Washington’s affiliate Capital City Go-Go last season.

It’s also important to note that every player currently signed to a two-way deal isn’t necessarily a lock to make their team. With a modest contract guarantee, teams often swap out two-way players either before the season or during the course of the year. For example, Miles was waived earlier this week by the Mavericks despite holding a two-way deal.

Potential situations to monitor include Jay Scrubb of the Celtics, who is on a one-year two-way deal but is out for the season with a torn ACL; and Dru Smith of the Heat, whom Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel identified as a possible odd man out, though head coach Erik Spoelstra has spoken highly of him.

Pistons Notes: Hayes, Umude, Duren, Bagley

October 13th, 2023 at 6:47pm CST by Rory Maher

Pistons point guard Killian Hayes saw his name pop in trade rumors this offseason after Detroit added first-round pick Marcus Sasser and veteran Monte Morris to an already crowded backcourt that also includes Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Alec Burks. In August, multiple reporters suggested Hayes could be moved before the 2023/24 season begins.

While the season doesn’t start for another couple weeks, Hayes has certainly helped himself to this point with a strong training camp and preseason, writes James L. Edwards III of The Athletic. In addition to drawing praise from head coach Monty Williams, the 22-year-old is averaging 14.5 PPG, 5.0 APG and 3.0 SPG while shooting 57.1% from the field in two preseason contests (23.8 MPG).

Morris has yet to play due to a back injury, which has opened up minutes. But even when he returns, Edwards believes Hayes should — and probably will — have a rotation role when Detroit’s season tips off on October 25 in Miami.

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Second-year wing Stanley Umude is another young player who has impressed during preseason, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. Umude, who is on a non-guaranteed training camp contract, is averaging 15.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG and 2.0 APG on .667/.600/1.000 shooting in just 19.8 MPG through two games. As Langlois notes, the Pistons have an open two-way slot and Umude is making a case for a promotion. The 24-year-old spent the majority of last season playing for Detroit’s G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, though he did appear in one NBA game after receiving a 10-day contract in February.
Jalen Duren put an early end to a potential competition for the starting center position, and he’s ready to show more of his “unlimited ceiling” in his second season, according to Langlois of Pistons.com. “The feel with the ball, the touch, the passing,” Williams said of Duren’s atypical big man skills. “His (dribble-handoff) game is pretty advanced for a young player. He knows how to get off the DHO, drop the ball and still screen and that’s something it takes kids a few years to understand how to do that consistently. I’ve heard he was always big, so it befuddles me when you look at him and you see the guard skills. You’re like, ‘Where did he get that?’ He has the ability to get down in a guard-like position when he’s dribbling the ball. We’re going to try some things, give him the ball in the full court and let him go off of rebounds. Tell everybody, get out of there. Because he does have that ability.”
Marvin Bagley III, who is competing with James Wiseman for backup center minutes, had a strong showing on Sunday in the team’s first preseason game against Phoenix. As Omari Sankofa of The Detroit Free Press writes (subscriber link), injuries and consistency have been an issue for Bagley, which Williams acknowledged. “I think he would agree that he’s looking for consistency in his career,” the head coach said. “The number two pick, a lot of acclaim, a lot of talent, and at this point in his career he’s looking for consistency. And that’s what I’m looking for.” Williams also praised Bagley’s defensive communication.