Pistons' G-League nepotism may finally be over

One of the biggest failures of Troy Weaver’s time as GM of the Detroit Pistons is that he never found any talent outside the first round of the draft. 

Even some of his first-round picks are still in “pending” mode, but the jury is in on everyone taken after that and the verdict isn't positive.

For all the talk of Weaver as a talent evaluator, he found none in the second round or in unrestricted free agency, something good teams regularly do. 

One of the problems is that Weaver used spots on guys who were clear favors to his friends. The Pistons have been accused of nepotism over recent years, some warranted some not, as fans tend to overreact to a player’s “connection” to Arn Tellem and son even though the two are former and current agents who have connections to half the league. 

But in the case of Buddy Boeheim, some skepticism was warranted, as he was never a real prospect for Detroit and his job with the Motor City Cruise seemed more like a favor to his dad Jim, former coach at Syracuse with whom Troy Weaver has a long-standing friendship and professional relationship. 

Boeheim kept getting chances even though he could never do anything but shoot. He did have a few big games for the Motor City Cruise, but his days as part of the Pistons’ nepotism pipeline are over. 

Motor City Cruise trades Buddy Boeheim 

According to a recent press release, the Motor City Cruise has traded Buddy Boeheim as part of a four-team deal: 

“The Motor City Cruise, NBA G League affiliate of the Detroit Pistons, announced today the completion of a trade in which the club acquired forward RaiQuan Gray from the Austin Spurs and a 2025 second-round pick from the Oklahoma City Blue in exchange for the returning rights of forward Buddy Boeheim. As part of the four-team deal, the Cruise also sent the returning rights of guard Zavier Simpson to the Greensboro Swarm.” 

The Cruise take back RaiQuan Gray, a power forward who has had a cup of coffee in the NBA and put up 15.4 points 5.9 rebounds and 3.5 assists last year in the G-League. 

Gray is a big dude at 6-foot-7, 269 lbs. but is known for his playmaking, ballhandling and defensive versatility despite his size. The Pistons are thin at power forward, so Gray will give them some potential depth from the G-League if they have injuries. 

But the big news is that the Motor City Cruise are no longer running as a favor to the other teams, and who knows, maybe we’ll actually see the Pistons develop a player from the G-League, something they were never able to do under Weaver.