The Detroit Pistons signed Quincy Olivari to a training camp deal and of all of their recent signings, he is the most interesting.
Mike Scotto of HoopsHype announced the deal, which in the grand scheme of things, isn’t likely to matter much next season, as most training camp signings end up getting cut or finding their way to the G-League.
But I always like to look how fans react to these things and was surprised to find Lakers’ fans angry that their team had let Olivari, who was an undrafted free agent in 2024, relocate to another team even though LA cut him last season.
Olivari is a bucket who averaged over 19 points per game in his final season at Xavier, hitting 41 percent of his 3-point shots on a staggering 9.5 attempts per game.
He’s only had a cup of coffee in the NBA but did have a solid season in the G-League, where he averaged 17.5 points, five rebounds and five assists, and again shot a high volume from 3-point range, albeit with less efficiency than in college.
Olivari is a player who has had to fight for everything he’s gotten, going from Rice to Xavier and then barely missing making the Lakers’ full-time roster last season.
With big question marks still hanging over the roster, I wouldn’t count Olivari out for at least a two-way spot.
Detroit Pistons training camp: The plot thickens
The Pistons will have some interesting battles in training camp, including for minutes at the back end of the rotation.
Detroit still has a roster spot open, and while it would be surprising for Olivari to seize it, he does have a sliver of opportunity here.
The kid can shoot it, and the Pistons need shooting. He’s a better shooter than Daniss Jenkins, though Jenkins is more of a facilitator at point guard.
The Pistons are still holding a roster spot for Malik Beasley, but if that doesn’t work out, I wouldn’t be shocked to see one of these point guards get some spot minutes next season, especially if there is an injury.
The most likely scenario is that he ends up on the Pistons’ G-League affiliate unless he can displace one of their two-way contracts. The Pistons have used up all of their two-way deals (but they can always cut someone) and still have one full-time roster spot, but Olivari would have to be very impressive to steal a spot.
You can’t count the exciting point guard out and at the very least, he will add to the competition in training camp and make his counterparts earn it.