Category: Detroit Pistons Blog

Brandon Knight has made a good first impression with his personality and a work ethic that usually makes him one of the last guys to leave the practice floor.

He plays with confidence, seen when he didn’t hesitate to take a key three-pointer late in the game. He missed, but the moxie impressed Daye and Pistons coach Lawrence Frank.

Knight finished the preseason averaging eight points, five assists and three rebounds per game. He struggled with his shot, making only 27.8%. But he strives to impact the game in other ways.

“No matter what the situation is for me, individually, you have to lift the team up,” Knight said. “It doesn’t have to be through scoring or getting assists, it’s being a good teammate.”

— Reported by Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the team has re-signed guard Rodney Stuckey. According to the Detroit News, the deal is for three years and $25 million.

“We are pleased to re-sign Rodney Stuckey,” said Joe Dumars, Pistons President of Basketball Operations.  “Rodney led our team in scoring and assists last season and he’s part of the young core group of players that we are building around.  We look forward to watching his continued growth within our organization.”

Last season Stuckey appeared in 70 games (54 starts), leading Pistons in scoring (15.5 ppg) and assists (career-high 5.2 apg).  He also shot a career-high-tying 43.9% from the field and averaged 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 steals in 32.1 minutes per game.  Among NBA leaders, Stuckey ranked T-25 in assists and also shot a career-high 87 percent from the free-throw line (14th in the NBA).  He recorded his third consecutive 1,000-point season and dished out a career-high 14 assists twice, including a game vs. Toronto (3/16), when he became the first Piston to record 10 assists before attempting a field goal.

Stuckey, the 15th overall pick by the Pistons in the 2007 NBA Draft, owns career averages of 13.6 points (.423 FG), 3.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 29.7 minutes in 279 games.  In 73 games during the 2009-10 season, he averaged a career-high 16.6 points and led the team in total points (1,215).  Among NBA league leaders, Stuckey has ranked in the top-30 in assists per game each of the last three seasons and has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week twice [(12/29/08-1/4/09) and (12/7/09-12/13/09)].  He scored a career-high 40 points vs. Chicago (12/23/08) and participated in the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge at NBA All-Star 2009 as part of the Sophomore Team.  Stuckey was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team in 2008 and became only the third Pistons rookie to start a playoff game [at Orlando (5/10/08)] joining Joe Dumars and Tayshaun Prince.

The Detroit Pistons have retained Rodney Stuckey with a $25 million, three-year contract.

A person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press on Saturday that the restricted free agent has signed the contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the transaction had not been announced.

— Reported by the Associated Press

Detroit Pistons center Ben Wallace was sentenced Tuesday to a year of probation but avoided jail time on drunken driving and gun possession charges that stemmed from a September traffic stop in suburban Detroit.

Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Shalina Kumar also sentenced Wallace to 30 hours of community service.

Assistant Prosecutor Robert Novey didn’t ask for jail time and told Kumar that prosecutors wanted to treat Wallace “as if his name was Ben Smith.”

— Reported by Corey Williams of the Associated Press

The Detroit Pistons announced this evening that the club has requested waivers on guard Kareem Rush. He was signed mostly for training camp purposes and as far as we know, did not have a regular season contract with the team.

In the 2009-10 NBA season, Rush played seven games for the Los Angeles Clippers, averaging 1.3 ppg.

In 2008-09, he played 25 games for the Philadelphia 76ers, averaging 2.2 ppg.

Rush averaged 8.3 ppg for the Indiana Pacers in 2007-08, and 10.1 ppg for the Charlotte Bobcats in 2005-06.

Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars announced today that the team has waived guard Richard Hamilton.

According to the Associated Press, “The move was made Monday after both sides agreed to terms of a buyout, which saved the rebuilding team $4 million in salary cap space this season and $4 million more next season. Hamilton was due to make $19 million over the final two years of his contract in Detroit.”

It’s been widely reported that Hamilton will now likely sign with the Chicago Bulls.

“We thank Richard Hamilton for his time here with the Pistons organization,” said Dumars. “Rip was a champion with us and a big part of our success over the last nine years.  We wish him all the best in the future.”

Hamilton spent nine seasons with Detroit (2002-2011) leading the Pistons in scoring in eight of those nine seasons.  Last season he appeared in 55 games (39 starts), averaging 14.1 points (.429 FG, .382 3FG, .849 FG), 2.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 0.7 steals in 27.2 minutes per game.  Hamilton is one of six players in Pistons franchise history to reach the 11,000-point plateau and one of five players to score 50-plus points in a game (51 at New York, 12/27/06).

During his tenure the club made six consecutive trips to the Eastern Conference Finals (2003-2008), two trips to the NBA Finals (2004, 2005) and won the NBA Championship in 2004.  In 631 games as a Piston, the Coatesville native averaged 18.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game.  He has career NBA averages of 17.7 points, 3.2 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 33.0 minutes in 843 games.