The Detroit Pistons have been busy signing players as training camp approaches. The latest is former University of Houston standout Kyler Edwards. Will he actually be on the team when camp begins? Remains to be seen.
Pistons general manager Troy Weaver is usually very active, but it looks like assistant general manager Rob Murphy, who is in charge of Detroit’s G League team, the Motor City Cruise, has been very busy as well.
A bunch of players have been signing Exhibit 10 contracts with the Pistons. The main feature of those kind of deals is that a player can receive up to a $50,000 bonus if he plays with the G League team for 60 days.
An Exhibit 10 contract is with the main club, so they are officially part of the Detroit Pistons roster after they sign. But they do not have to remain on it, to get the bonus.
So the Pistons have been signing players to Exhibit 10’s, and then releasing them a few days later. Names like Keifer Sykes and Micah Potter have been announced as inking contracts with the Pistons, and then their releases came shortly thereafter.
The latest Exhibit 10 contract signee is guard Kyler Edwards, who played for the University of Houston last year.
Edwards is a 6-foot-4, 205 pound guard. After three years at Texas Tech, Edwards played for Houston last collegiate season. He averaged 13.8 points, 3.2 assists and 5.9 rebounds to help the Cougars reach the Elite Eight. He was an All-AAC selection at Houston.
His three-point shooting was inconsistent in college. He shot just 33-percent for Houston but he had two seasons at Texas Tech where he made over 40-percent of his threes.
Edwards was not drafted but was invited to the G League Elite Camp and played for the San Antonio Spurs summer league team, so Detroit has been able to monitor his play the past few months.
What are the chances we see Kyler Edwards at Detroit Pistons training camp?
According to Spotrac, the Pistons currently have 19 players under contract, counting Edwards, but they are not including Kevin Knox, who the Pistons have announced is signing a free agent contract with them.
Counting Knox, Detroit has reached the 20 player limit it can bring to training camp.
Of course, counted in the 20 is Kemba Walker, who Detroit is hoping will take a buyout and free up some salary cap space. But so far, it has not happened.
If the current roster stands, one Exhibit 10 player can actually come to Pistons training camp and play in the the preseason games. If Walker is no longer on the team, than two players who do not have guaranteed NBA contracts, or are not two-way players, can be a part of it.
No matter what, you can count on seeing all the Exhibit 10 signees in action for the Cruise, at least to start the season. But it certainly would be a thrill for a player to practice with an NBA team, and play with the likes of Cade Cunningham and Saddiq Bey.
Whether Kyler Edwards is the lucky non-guaranteed contract player who gets to come to the Henry Ford Performance Center for Pistons camp will be known soon.