Detroit Pistons to sign forward Justin Harper to 10-day contract
By Duncan Smith
The Detroit Pistons have gone from deep at power forward to thin after Anthony Tolliver was lost for a month and the trade of Donatas Motiejunas was voided.
It’s been a rough start to the week for the Detroit Pistons. Just a week ago they made waves across the NBA after picking up forward Tobias Harris in a surprise trade for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova, but there have been no good breaks for the Pistons in the time since.
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They thought they had acquired power forward Donatas Motiejunas from the Houston Rockets on deadline day, but the trade was voided when Motiejunas failed his physical on Monday.
They lost Anthony Tolliver to a sprained knee on Sunday in a loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, and they lost rookie small forward Stanley Johnson for an indeterminate amount of time due to a sprained shoulder in Monday’s win against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
As a result of this unexpected loss of depth, the Pistons made an emergency signing of forward Justin Harper to a ten-day contract following the game against the Cavs.
The Detroit Pistons plan to sign forward Justin Harper of the Los Angeles D-Fenders to a 10-day contract, league sources tell The Vertical.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 23, 2016
So far this season Harper has played 34 games for the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League, starting 19 of them, averaging 14.8 points and five rebounds in 27.8 minutes per game.
The 26 year old, 6-foot-10 and 225 lb power forward has shooting splits of .485/.403/.885 this season, and it’s worth noting that he’s not afraid to fire away from long range. Of the 375 field goals he has attempted this season, 176 of them have been from three-point range, which is an average of just over five attempts per game.
Harper made the D-League All-Star game in 2015-16, scoring eight points and adding three rebounds and three assists in 16 minutes. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits into the lineup, and whether more short-term signings are yet to come, especially as teams are currently weighing their options when it comes to buying veterans out of their contracts.
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Harper has just 14 games of NBA experience under his belt, all of them in 2011-12 with the Orlando Magic, and his last burn at the NBA level was in the 2015-16 preseason with the Brooklyn Nets.
Stay tuned to Piston Powered over the next few days, as it could get interesting for the Pistons as the roster continues to experience upheaval.