Detroit Pistons Blog – Page 7 – NBA Blog

Pistons assistant coach Bill Bayno undergoes prostate cancer surgery

Detroit Pistons assistant coach Bill Bayno underwent successful prostate cancer surgery Tuesday morning in Detroit. Recovery time is expected to take four-to-six weeks. Bayno said that doctors from Henry Ford Health, the club’s official healthcare provider, are optimistic for a full recovery following the surgery.

“I’m disappointed to miss the beginning of the season with the team, but obviously want to take care of my body and I thank Dr. Craig Rogers and his colleagues who are putting me on a solid path to recovery,” said Bayno. “Once I’ve recovered and get the okay from doctors taking care of me – I look forward to getting back on the bench and supporting our Pistons family that has been so great to me.”

Pistons waive Kemba Walker

The Detroit Pistons announced today that the team has requested waivers on guard Kemba Walker.

Per the Detroit News, “Walker, a 6-foot guard, was acquired by the Pistons in a trade on July 6 that brought No. 13 overall pick Jalen Duren to Detroit in exchange for a 2025 first-round draft pick (via the Milwaukee Bucks). The team revealed that Walker would not be with the team on September 26, the day before the start of training camp.”

Pistons’ Marvin Bagley III out 3-4 weeks with knee injury

An MRI performed earlier today on Detroit Pistons forward/center Marvin Bagley III revealed a bone bruise and sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) in the right knee that was injured during last night’s game vs. Oklahoma City. The injury took place at the 11:04 mark of the first quarter.

The injury will require rest and rehabilitation and Bagley III is expected to miss the next three to four weeks.

Pistons forward Marvin Bagley hurts knee

A Pistons update, via the Detroit News:

Searching for their first victory of the preseason, the Pistons hosted the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday and not only lost their third consecutive game, but they lost their starting power forward in the process.

Marvin Bagley III suffered a right knee injury less than one minute into the game and did not return, leaving the team with two healthy active big men in Isaiah Stewart and Jalen Duren.

Despite the injury, the Pistons remained competitive against the Thunder until they fell into an offensive drought in the third quarter. The dry spell ultimately led to a 115-99 loss, dropping them to an 0-3 record.

Hopefully Bagley’s injury is minor.

Jazz trade Bojan Bogdanovic to Pistons for Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee

The Utah Jazz have acquired center/forward Kelly Olynyk, guard Saben Lee and cash considerations in a trade with the Detroit Pistons for forward Bojan Bogdanović.

Bogdanović, 6-7, 226, averaged 18.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 30.9 minutes per game with the Jazz last season. He’s averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists over the last three seasons in Utah while shooting 45% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc. Bogdanović has also made 150-plus 3-pointers in each of his last five seasons.

Drafted 31st overall in the 2011 NBA Draft, Bogdanović played professionally overseas before coming to the NBA in 2014. In 603 career NBA games, he’s averaged 15.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists with Brooklyn, Washington, Indiana and Utah.

Born in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bogdanović began his professional career in Europe, most notably, with Real Madrid in Spain and Fenerbahce in Turkey. He helped lead Fenerbahce to a Turkish Cup win in 2013 and a Turkish Supercup and Turkish League championship in 2014.

Olynyk (6-11, 240, Gonzaga) is entering his 10th NBA season, having appeared in 610 games (166 starts) with Boston (2013-17), Miami (2017-21), Houston (2020-21), and Detroit (2021-22), owning career averages of 10.1 points on 47.6 percent from the field, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 22.0 minutes per contest. A native of Kamloops, British Columbia, spent last season with the Pistons, playing in 40 games (one start), averaging 9.1 points, 4.4 boards, and 2.8 assists in 19.1 minutes. Following his first professional season in 2013-14, Olynyk was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team.

The 31-year-old was a three-year collegiate player at Gonzaga (2009-13), where during his senior season, he averaged 17.8 points on 62.9 percent shooting, 7.3 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.1 blocks in 26.4 minutes per contest, garnering 2012-13 Consensus All-America First Team, All-WCC First Team, and WCC Player of the Year honors. He has represented the Canadian Men’s National Team in multiple events since 2010.

Lee (6-2, 183, Vanderbilt) is entering his third NBA season, having spent two seasons with Detroit, owning career averages of 5.6 points, 3.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 85 games (seven starts). Originally drafted with the 38th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Jazz, he was traded to Detroit on Draft Night. In 2021-22 he appeared in 19 games with the Motor City Cruise of the NBA G League, averaging 24.0 points, 7.2 assists, 4.8 boards, and 2.3 steals in 36.8 minutes per game, earning 2021-22 All-NBA G League Second Team honors.

Pistons sign Jules Bernard and Stanley Umude to Exhibit 10 contracts

The Detroit Pistons announced today the team’s 2022-23 training camp roster including the signing of Jules Bernard and Stanley Umude to Exhibit 10 contracts.

Below is the Pistons 2022-23 Training Camp Roster:

NO POS NAME HT WT DOB PRIOR TO NBA/COUNTRY YRS

35 F/C Marvin Bagley III 6-11 235 3/14/99 Duke/USA 4

24 G Jules Bernard 6-6 205 1/21/00 UCLA/USA R

41 G/F Saddiq Bey 6-8 215 4/9/99 Villanova/USA 2

27 G Buddy Boeheim 6-6 195 11/11/99 Syracuse/USA R

5 G Alec Burks 6-6 214 7/20/91 Colorado/USA 11

2 G/F Cade Cunningham 6-6 220 9/25/01 Oklahoma State/USA 1

6 G/F Hamidou Diallo 6-5 202 7/31/98 Kentucky/USA 4

0 C Jalen Duren 6-10 250 11/18/03 Memphis/USA R

7 G Killian Hayes 6-5 216 7/27/01 France 2

23 G Jaden Ivey 6-4 200 2/13/02 Purdue/USA R

18 G Cory Joseph 6-3 200 8/20/91 Texas/Canada 11

8 F Braxton Key 6-8 230 2/14/97 Virginia/USA 1

20 F Kevin Knox II 6-7 215 8/11/99 Kentucky/USA 4

12 F Isaiah Livers 6-7 230 7/27/98 Michigan/USA 1

17 G Rodney McGruder 6-4 205 7/29/91 Kansas State/USA 6

9 C Nerlens Noel 6-11 220 4/10/94 Kentucky/USA 8

28 C Isaiah Stewart 6-9 250 5/22/01 Washington/USA 2

14 G Stanley Umude 6-6 210 4/12/99 Arkansas/USA R

* G Kemba Walker 6-0 184 5/8/90 Connecticut/USA 11

*- Not with team

Pistons health updates on Alec Burks, Kevin Knox and Nerlens Noel

The Detroit Pistons announced today the following player health updates as the team enters training camp.

Alec Burks is expected to miss the start of training camp while he continues rehabilitation for a navicular fracture. His status will be re-evaluated in three weeks.

Kevin Knox II (right gastroc strain) and Nerlens Noel (reconditioning/plantar faciitis) will see limited participation at the beginning of training camp as they rehab and work towards full participation.

Detroit Pistons announce basketball and business operations department promotions and additions

The Detroit Pistons announced today offseason promotions and additions within the team’s basketball and business operations departments.

On the basketball operations side, George David has been elevated to Associate General Manager; Rob Murphy has been promoted to Assistant General Manager for Pistons and President of Motor City Cruise; Josh Bartelstein and Tony Leotti have been promoted to Assistant General Managers. Eric Tellem has been promoted to Senior Director of Pro Scouting and Jon Phelps has been promoted to Senior Director of Basketball Strategy. Jamal James has joined the organization as Director of College Scouting.

In player health and performance, Sebastian Poirier has been named Senior Director of Medical, Rachel Cutts has been named Head Athletic Trainer/Senior Physical Therapist and Trent Salo has been promoted to Senior Director of Sports Performance.

The following additions were also announced on the coaching staff – Keith Bogans, Rashard Lewis and Brandon Bailey have joined the staff as Assistant Coach/Player Development Coach and Brittni Donaldson has joined the organization as Assistant Coach/Director of Coaching Analytics.

On the Motor City Cruise side of basketball operations, Ben Carloni has been promoted to General Manager and Stacey Lovelace has been named Assistant General Manager for the Motor City Cruise and special assistant to General Manager Troy Weaver.

Within the organization’s business operations, Dan Lefton has been elevated to SVP & Chief Revenue Officer; Alicia Jeffreys has been elevated to SVP & Chief Marketing Officer; Nicolet Lewis has been elevated to SVP & Chief People Officer; and Kevin Grigg has been elevated to SVP & Chief Communications Officer.

2022 Detroit Pistons preseason game schedule

The Detroit Pistons 2022-23 preseason schedule will feature two home and two away games.

The Pistons will first travel to New York (10/4) to take on the Knicks and then to New Orleans (10/7) to face the Pelicans before returning to Detroit for the home slate. The Knicks game will be televised nationally on TNT and locally on Bally Sports Detroit.

Detroit will then host the Oklahoma City Thunder (10/11) and the Memphis Grizzlies (10/13).

Pistons sign Kevin Knox, and re-sign Rodney McGruder

The Detroit Pistons have signed forward Kevin Knox and re-signed guard Rodney McGruder.

Knox, 6-7, 215, suited up for the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks in 2021-22, totaling 3.1 points and 1.5 rebounds in 7.4 minutes over 30 games. Knox played in two games for the Hawks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, recording double-digit scoring in both outings while shooting .636 from the floor and .600 from distance in postseason action.

The Phoenix native was traded on Jan. 13 of this previous season from New York to Atlanta after spending three-plus NBA seasons with the Knicks. In his rookie campaign with New York in 2018-19, Knox tallied clips of 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 28.8 minutes through 75 games (57 starts). He holds career averages of 7.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in 18.9 minutes over 212 NBA games (61 starts).

Drafted ninth overall by New York in the 2018 NBA Draft, Knox played collegiately for one season at Kentucky where he earned SEC Rookie of the Year while being named to the SEC All-Freshman and All-SEC Tournament First Team in 2017-18.

McGruder, 6-4, 205, has averaged 5.4 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 14.1 minutes through 67 games (four starts) for Detroit from 2020-22. McGruder holds shooting clips of .458 from the field and .406 from 3-point range while with the Pistons over the last two seasons. His 3-point shooting percentage marks the fifth-highest in Pistons history by a player with a minimum of 150 3-point attempts. The six-year NBA veteran was originally acquired by Detroit from the L.A. Clippers via a three-team trade also involving the Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 19, 2020.

Following a four-year career at Kansas State where he was selected to All-Big 12 teams three times, McGruder made his NBA debut for the Miami HEAT on Oct. 26, 2016. He went on to play three seasons for Miami before suiting up for the Clippers for the 2019-20 campaign. He has posted career averages of 5.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 19.8 minutes over 285 NBA games (120 starts) and has played in nine NBA Playoff contests across two playoff appearances, one with each of his former teams.