Reggie Bullock suspended five games for drug offense

Reggie Bullock of the Detroit Pistons and Monta Ellis of the Indiana Pacers were both suspended by the NBA for the first five games of the 2017-18 NBA season on Friday.

Per Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today:

These suspensions will both be without pay, and while Ellis is under contract with the Pacers this suspension throws a cloud over Bullock’s future with the Pistons. Bullock will become a restricted free agent on July 1st, and the team has already given no indication whether it plans to extend him a qualifying offer. If the Pistons don’t extend the $3.3 million qualifying offer, he becomes and unrestricted free agent and the organization has no claim on him.

Bullock isn’t doing himself any favors here after a 2016-17 season in which he couldn’t catch a break. He suffered from back spasms that caused him to miss the start of the regular season and missed more than two months in the middle of the season after tearing a meniscus and with few exceptions never really found himself in the rotation.

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While a lot of that can be chalked up to just bad luck, this suspension is less likely to earn him further goodwill with the Detroit Pistons organization.