Paul Reed, Cade Cunningham's Extension, and NBA Summer League | The Weekly Drive
B-Ball Paul is a Piston, Cade Cunningham is staying, and NBA Summer League is in full swing.
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Palace of Pistons Weekly Drive. NBA Summer League started on Saturday, Cade Cunningham re-signed, and B-Ball Paul is a Detroit Piston. Let’s get into it.
Free Agency Roundup
The Pistons announced the signing of big man Paul Reed, who was a casualty of the Philadelphia 76ers salary cap crunch. Reed appeared in all 82 games for the Sixers last season and fills an important role for the Pistons as the new backup center. Even better? Reed shot a respectable 36.8% from three-point territory. An actual stretch big!
Reed’s contract is a non-guaranteed $7.7 million, which puts the Pistons at $135.3 million in allotted salary per Spoctrac. As of the time of this writing, the Pistons would have $5.2 million in cap space left.
Cade Cunningham is Staying
The most important news of the week was the official signing of budding superstar Cade Cunningham, who agreed to a five-year $224 million extension. That locks Cunningham into the organization for the foreseeable future and should be a sigh of relief to the fan base. Nobody, up to this point, had turned down the rookie-scale max extension and there was some level of wonder if Cunningham would be the first given the Pistons’ woes over the last half-decade. Perhaps the work that Langdon has done this offseason has reinvigorated Cunningham’s belief in the organization.
The Dog Days of Summer (League)
As my podcast co-host Aaron Johnson would say, it’s his favorite time of the year. Yes, it’s time for the NBA Summer League. Detroit announced their summer league roster last Tuesday and games kicked off Saturday. The most notable names are Marcus Sasser, entering his second season, Ron Holland, and fellow rookie Bobi Klintman. Didn’t catch Saturday’s game? Here is the box score.
Here is the rest of Detroit’s Summer League schedule:
Monday, July 15 vs. Houston Rockets, 6:30 p.m. ET on NBATV
Tuesday, July 16 vs. Chicago Bulls, 6:30 p.m. ET on NBATV
Friday, July 19 vs. New York Knicks, 7 p.m. ET on ESPN
Be on the lookout for this week’s podcast, where we will surely be talking about the first three Summer League games.
Other News and Notes
Former Pistons wing Saddiq Bey signed a three-year $20 million deal with the Washington Wizards per ESPN. Bey will miss most of the upcoming season rehabbing a torn ACL.
The Pistons formally announced J.B. Bickerstaff as their next head coach, but he spoke with reporters after the press conference. And his comments are worth reading.
Detroit also officially announced the signings of Ron Holland II and second-round pick Bobi Klintman.
Jontay Porter, who signed last September with the Pistons on an Exhibit-10 deal before being cut in October, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in connection to a gambling investigation. Porter, who violated the league’s betting rules when he was with the Toronto Raptors, was banned for life from the NBA.
Remember Mike Muscala? The one who played for the Pistons last season? Like Kemba Walker, he officially announced his retirement from the NBA as well.
Are you happy with Detroit’s offseason? Is your outlook on the team any different? Be sure to let us know on social media or in the YouTube comments of the podcast. There seems to be quite the divide amongst the fan base, but I think the front office has done a pretty good job of getting the ship pointed in the right direction.
That’ll do it for this week, see you all next Monday.
Mike