Pistons sign Derek Willis to one-year deal
By Duncan Smith
The Detroit Pistons are looking ahead to filling out their training camp roster after signing undrafted free agent Derek Willis to a one-year contract.
The Detroit Pistons have taken a step toward filling out their roster for training camp after signing undrafted rookie free agent forward Derek Willis to a one-year contract.
As team policy dictates, they didn’t release any of the deal’s fnancials, but it stands to reason this contract is either a rookie minimum $815,615 or a two-way deal which would allow him to play up to 45 days at the NBA level but spend most of the season in the G League with the Grand Rapids Drive.
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The Pistons have indicated that they feel no hurry to add two-way contracts, and Willis stands to be the 15th man on the roster right now. Teams can carry up 20 players during the offseason.
Willis was on the Pistons’ Orlando Summer League roster and appeared in four games. He averaged 11 minutes per appearance and totaled 14 points and eight rebounds over the course of Summer League.
The 6’9″ Willis went to the University of Kentucky and played all four years of his eligibility. In his senior season, he averaged 22 minutes per game, appearing in 30 games. He averaged 7 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.
More than 60 percent of his field goal attempts were from three-point range, and he converted on 37.7 percent of his attempts from behind the arc.
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Willis is the second player from the Detroit Pistons’ summer league roster to be offered a contract by the team, joining Eric Moreland, who signed a three-year deal to be the third center on the roster.