Detroit Pistons: The strange case of Deividas Sirvydis

The Detroit Pistons waived Deividas Sirvydis after one season, even though they owe him money for next year. But then they apparently have invited him to play on their Summer League team. Do they want him, do they not?

The Detroit Pistons invested heavily in getting Deividas Sirvydis during the 2019 NBA Draft. They traded three second-round picks to Dallas so they could move up to the 37th slot and take Sirvydis, a 6-foot-8 shooting guard who was just 18-years-old at the time.

Sirvydis stayed in his native Lithuania to play after being drafted, before coming over to start the 2019-20 season. Detroit inked him to a three-year, $4.2 million contract with the first two years guaranteed.

To this point, the Pistons seemed all in on Sirvydis … until they weren’t.

Sirvydis played very little during the just completed season, averaging 2.1 points in 20 games. He did show flashes of ability at the end, when coach Dwane Casey basically benched all the vets and played just youngsters.

Since the Pistons are still a rebuilding (oops, restoring) team, carrying Sirvydis, who just turned 21, for another season to see if he develops seemed to be an automatic … until it wasn’t.

On July 31, the Pistons announced they were waiving Sirvydis, along with Cory Joseph and Tyler Cook.  That was a bit surprising, for the following reasons:

1. Detroit is on the hook to pay Sirvydis a total of $1.5 million for next season. Waiving him does not take away that financial obligation, so no salary cap space was saved.
2. The Pistons are starting their own G-League team, the Motor City Cruise based at Wayne State. They will need players. If the Pistons completely soured on Sirvydis, they could have simply stuck him on the Cruise for the year. They are paying him anyhow. If he surprises and looks good, you still have him under contract for next season.
3. This is a real bad look for the Pistons front office. Special advisor Ed Stefanski and vice president Arn Tellen (full disclosure, his son Michael is Sirvydis’ agent) were in charge when the trade occurred, but general manager Troy Weaver was in place when Sirvydis came over and signed the contract.

It was a bit of a puzzling move but most fans simply shrugged their shoulders. For whatever reason, the Pistons wanted to get rid of Sirvydis … until they didn’t.

Since this comes from a journalist in Lithuania, it is pretty obvious he talked to someone close to Sirvydis.  So, apparently, get ready for that Cade Cunningham & Deividas Sirvydis backcourt in Las Vegas.

Why are they doing this? I don’t know. Detroit cuts Sirvydis, pays him $1.5 million to basically go away, and then brings him back for summer league?

That is the equivalent of breaking up with your girlfriend, but still taking her to the prom because you had already paid for the tickets.

Here are three possible reasons Sirvydis is being brought back for summer league:

1. Detroit is just being nice. All 30 teams are represented there, so it is an opportunity for Sirvydis to be seen and find a new NBA home.
2. The Pistons still have one two-way contract (play mostly in G-League but some NBA time) available (they reportedly already committed to UCLA guard Chris Smith for one). If Sirvydis looks good enough, maybe Detroit brings him back on a two-way. Then,  he is still in the organization but does not take up a roster spot with the main club.
3. As someone who played for the Pistons last season, he knows coach Dwane Casey’s system and can help the rookies figure out what to do.

Outside of that, I got nothing. Getting cut usually means bye, bye, have a good life, not see you in Vegas next week.

This is another one of those ‘In Troy we Trust’ situations. We will just see how this plays out.