Detroit Pistons: 1 spot left for training camp, who gets it?

The Detroit Pistons currently have just one spot available on their training camp roster. Who will be the one to receive the invitation? There are some obvious, and not so obvious, candidates.

The Detroit Pistons right now have room to add players, and yet have too many.

During the season, an NBA team can only have 15 players on its roster. The Pistons, according to Spotrac.com, have 16 players with guaranteed contracts for this upcoming season. So, someone has to go, by either trade or release. The Pistons can not show up on Opening Night against the Chicago Bulls with 16 players on the team.

However, this a problem that has time to be dealt with. Under NBA rules, a team’s roster is expanded to 20 players in the off-season. They don’t actually have to declare their regular season roster until right before their first game.

As of now, Detroit has 19 of those 20 roster spots filled. There are the 16 guaranteed, and two on two-way contracts, Luka Garza and Chris Smith, plus Jamorko Pickett is signed to an Exhibit 10 deal.

The two-ways and Exhibit 10 contracts are mostly constructed for playing in the G-League, but they still count on the training camp roster. Things do change once all the players are together for camp.

Remember, three years ago it appeared veteran Joe Johnson had locked up the Pistons final roster spot. However, he suffered a late injury and Christian Wood instead made the team. Wood turned into a 20-and-10 guy for Detroit, and now Houston.

So, do not assume the last roster spot for training camp is a throwaway destined to be cut or put on the Motor City Cruise. General manager Troy Weaver could also look to add another veteran.

Wayne Ellington was signed just two days before the start of training camp last season. He ended up being the Pistons best outside shooter and started a lot of games.

All the veterans listed are unrestricted free agents.

Here are 5 candidates to fill the Detroit Pistons one remaining roster spot:

5. Harry Giles

Do you still believe?

Harry Giles III came out of Duke and was the 20th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, and appeared ready to be yet another of Coach K’s many success stories. But it has not worked out that way.

He is 6-foot-11, 240-pounds and athletic, but his first three seasons in the NBA have not gone too well. In 142 games, he’s only has started 17.

Giles signed as a free agent with Portland last season. He was pulled from the rotation in March and finished with a career-low 2.8 points per game average. In his first two seasons with the Kings he did score seven points a game.

This summer he played in The League in his native North Carolina, They were happy to have an NBA player there.

Giles can play power forward as well as center. He did shoot 34.8% on three-pointers last year, albeit on very low volume.

With the trade of Mason Plumlee, the center position is a bit unsettled for Detroit.

Giles is only 23-years-old, so he still has time to develop. It would not be a bad move to sign the former Blue Devil to a training camp deal, see what he has. The Pistons have done quite well with reclamation projects lately.

4. Stanley Johnson back home with Detroit Pistons

Miss him?

In 2015, the Pistons took Stanley Johnson out of Arizona with the No. 8 pick in the NBA draft. Five spots later (as most Detroit fans know), the Phoenix Suns selected Michigan native Devin Booker.

At 6-foot-6, 242-pounds, Johnson switched between small and power forward during an undistinguished three and a half seasons in Detroit. He was traded in February, 2019 to New Orleans as part of the Thon Maker deal.

Johnson has spent the past two seasons with the Toronto Raptors where, despite all of their injury and health protocol problems, he still did not play a lot. He did start 13 games last season, but finished the year with a 4.4 points average.

He is not much of an outside shooter, despite what former Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy thought, as he is making just 29.8-percent of his three-point attempts during his career.

However, he is not afraid to stick his nose inside and do the dirty work. Coach Dwane Casey likes those kind of players.

Outside of Isaiah Stewart, the Pistons really do not have one of those ‘grinders’ who enjoys mixing it up with the big guys. Johnson can do that.

Although a good portion of the fan base might be up in arms about it, having Johnson back for a little reunion could be a good idea.

3. Want a shooter? JJ Redick

You do not have to work in the Pistons analytics department to know that Detroit’s biggest weakness is outside shooting. They were bad last year, and even worse in summer league (not counting Cade Cunningham).

For an instant fix of the outside shooting problem, one name on the available free agent list pops up immediately: JJ Redick.

One of the greatest three-point shooters of all time, Redick played for New Orleans and then (despite his objections) the Mavericks last season, before his season ended due to injuries.

The first question in getting Redick is, would he want to come to Detroit?

He is 37-years-old and, despite playing on some very good teams with the 76ers and Clippers, has never been even in an NBA finals. Redick might want to be on a contender.

Of course, the same might have been said of Wayne Ellington last year, a similar type of player to Redick. But, he did sign with Detroit (and parlayed a good season into a contract with the Lakers).

Redick has said he will not commit to any team until near training camp. Who knows what the market will be at that point?

Right now, the Pistons three-point shooting is pretty spotty from the guard position. Killian Hayes, Saben Lee and Cory Joseph are not exactly snipers, Rodney McGruder never plays and Cade Cunningham is a rookie.

Frank Jackson, in a few months with the team, was pretty good, but he was never known as a shooter until then.

Redick is a career 44.7-percent three-point shooter on high volume. Yes, he is old and probably not the player he was, but his outside shot still must be respected.

When Redick is on the court, he will not be left unguarded. That helps Detroit avoid double-teaming of Jerami Grant or Cunningham.

If GM Troy Weaver is looking for a floor-spacer, Redick is the biggest name he could have come to training camp, see if he still has his deadly outside shot.

2. Run it back with Dennis Smith Jr.

Pistons general manager Troy Weaver did say he wanted to bring back most of last year’s team. Filling the 20th roster spot with Dennis Smith Jr. certainly would help that objective.

Smith came over in the Derrick Rose trade. He had some nice moments for Detroit, averaging 7.3 points, 3.7 assists (to just 1.3 turnovers) and starting nine of the 20 games he played in, before a leg injury prematurely ended his season.

Because he was the No. 9 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, Detroit would have had to offer him a big qualifying offer sheet to retain his rights. The Pistons declined to make the offer and Smith became an unrestricted free agent.

Most Pistons fans know his story.

The 6-foot-2 Smith had some good early seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, even making the All-Rookie team. He then got traded to the Knicks as part of the Kristaps Porzingus deal and faded from there. At the time of the trade, Smith was packing to play for the Knicks’ G-League team in Orlando, at his request, just to get some playing time.

Smith would bring some additional athletic ability to the guard position.. Outside of Saben Lee, no one in the current guard lineup is what could be called an elite athlete.

The factor against Smith is his shooting. He is only a career 31.6-percent shooter on three-pointers, although he upped it to 35.6% during his stay in Detroit, so there is hope.

Based on what he showed last year in Detroit, it certainly would not hurt to give Smith another look thru training camp and the exhibition season.

No. 1 Anthony Tarke gives you everything

Your first thought might be: Who the heck is Anthony Tarke?

The answer is, if you watched the last couple of Pistons summer league games, you might know.

Tarke is a 6-foot-6 guard out of Coppin State who was the Mid-Eastern Conference Player of the Year, as well as its Defensive Player of the Year.

He is a shooting guard who rebounds well for his size. With most of the Pistons top players sitting out the end of summer league, Tarke had a chance to shine against the Los Angeles Lakers. He filled the stat sheet with 10 points (making 5 of 6 shots), four rebounds, three blocks, two assists and a steal.

Here he is in action:

Tarke is a native of the suburban Washington D.C. area, having gone to Gaithersburg High School. Weaver is also from that area, which doesn’t hurt.

While a rookie, Tarke is no kid. He is 23-years-old, having done a year of prep school, followed by two years at NJIT and one at Texas-El Paso before playing his senior year closer to home at Coppin State.

He bloomed with the Eagles as he was the only player in the nation to average at least 16 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals, according to the college.

Tarke has NBA size at 6-foot-6, 220-pounds. He plays guard but, with 8.3 rebounds last season, has shown he can help on the boards as well, so he can slide to small forward as well.

His one weakness, of course, is outside shooting. He only made 32.1-percent of his three-point attempts last season, probably a reason he did not get drafted.

Besides the main club, the Pistons also have to field a roster for their new G-League team based at Wayne State, the Motor City Cruise.

Tarke could use time with the Cruise to work on his outside shot. He is mature enough to be able handle the rigors of pro basketball but young enough where he is still prospect and can raise his game.

Tarke can score, rebound, pass and play solid defense. If  Troy Weaver prefers filling the last spot with a prospect who could help the Cruise now, and maybe the Pistons later, Tarke would seem to be the one.