4 Longshot buyout options for the Detroit Pistons
By Tyler Dutton
After the dust had settled from the trade deadline, the Detroit Pistons were left with 19 players on the roster. NBA teams can only carry 15 so it was apparent that cuts were coming.
In one fell swoop, Detroit waived Killian Hayes, Joe Harris, Ryan Arcidiacono, Danuel House and then Danillo Gallinari later in the evening. That leaves the Pistons with just 14 active players.
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What’s most likely to happen is Troy Weaver will reward a player like Jared Rhoden or Stanley Umude for their time with the Cruise and playing well against Sacramento. And for now, the Pistons have signed Tosan Evbuomwan to a 10-day contract. But we know that Weaver loves reclamation projects. Could Detroit dip into the buyout market? If they do, who could they target?
Possible Detroit Pistons buyout options
James Bouknight, 6’5 SG, 23
The first name in this list probably has the most potential, talent-wise. James Bouknight is a 6-foot-5 shooting guard and still just 23 years old. He was a lottery pick by Charlotte just three years ago, and never really was given a chance for the Hornets.
He was buried on Charlotte’s roster behind the Miles Bridges, Leaky Black, Brandon Miller and recent acquisition Grant Williams. Even going back to college, Bouknight isn’t so much a shooter, rather a pure bucket getter. He averaged 23 points per game in his final year at Uconn, but was just a 32 percent three point shooter during his two seasons in college.
Last season with the Hornets, James was averaging 5.6 points with an effective field goal percentage of 44 percent in 14 minutes per game. This season, his usage has dropped to just 5.8 minutes per game, but his three point shooting has actually increased to a shocking 43 percent. Granted it is on just 2.1 attempts per game, but there is some hope there.
It’s not likely James unseats Troy Brown Jr., who is just a year older but shoots much better (37 percent from three this season, 58 percent effective field goal percentage). But, Detroit could take a chance on him over the likes of the 27 year old Shake Milton who is shooting just 26 percent from deep this year. Detroit’s defense would take a major hit doing so, however, since James is well below league average in defensive rating.