Pistons try to sign Lorenzo Brown and waive Beno Udrih, miss deadline
With two games to go in the regular season, the Detroit Pistons have tried – and failed – to bring back a familiar face for their backup point guard spot.
The Detroit Pistons attempted to waive 34-year-old Beno Udrih and sign Lorenzo Brown from the Grand Rapids Drive earlier today, according to a report by the Vertical’s Shams Charania.
Soon after though, Charania retracted his report, saying that the team had missed the signing deadline yesterday evening:
The waiver deadline was Sunday at 5 p.m. EST prior to their game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Detroit News‘s Rod Beard later explained issues with details also derailed the roster move.
More from PistonPowered
- Which Detroit Pistons could save Team USA in the Olympics?
- Detroit Pistons could have major roster churn after 2023-24 season
- The best Detroit Pistons to wear each uniform number
- Full Detroit Pistons NBA 2K24 ratings
- Detroit Pistons: Who will sign the remaining NBA free agents?
Udrih suffered a knee injury during the fourth quarter of their 103-90 win against the Grizzlies. He had scored 11 points to go along with five assists and two rebounds as the backup point guard in the win.
During post-game interviews last night, Pistons head coach Stan Van Gundy did not sound too optimistic about him returning for their final two games this week, according to MLive’s Aaron McMann. Udrih is expected to have an MRI and x-ray sometime today.
Van Gundy also told reporters that Reggie Jackson, who was officially shut down for the remainder of the season a few days ago, would not return to the lineup despite the injury:
"We just talked about that, and I don’t think so,” Van Gundy said. “It’s hard, because we’ve had that planned with him but to now say, ‘Oh, get ready’ – his mind has been in a different place here for a few days.”"
Udrih, who was picked up by the Pistons off of waivers from the Miami Heat, had averaged 5.8 points and 3.4 assists per game in 39 appearances in 2016-17. He is also set to become a free agent this offseason.
Brown meanwhile had been battling for the Pistons’ backup point guard spot during the preseason with Ray McCallum after Jackson’s injury in October. Eventually, the team chose McCallum and waived Brown. McCallum eventually was sent to Grand Rapids.
Brown, 26, averaged 23.6 points, 7.7 rebounds and four assists per game in 11 appearances for the Pistons’ NBA Development League affiliate. He started nine of those games.
Prior to returning to the organization, Brown appeared in 20 games for Zhejiang Chouzhou in the Chinese Basketball Association. The North Carolina State product averaged a similar amount of points (24 PPG), rebounds (7.5 RPG) and assists (5.5 APG) compared to his D-League statistics.
Next: What would you like to see from the Pistons for the last 3 games?
It is unclear what the Pistons will do for their final two games of the year. It could be a possibility that the team elects to play Stanley Johnson or 2016 second-round pick Michael Gbinije at the one spot.
Fans will have to see what Van Gundy will do later tonight when the Pistons face the Washington Wizards.