Detroit Pistons Should Consider Two-Way Players In 2020 Offseason

The Detroit Pistons are in a class deemed undesirable for the NBA bubble. Left uninvited to the group of 22 teams gathered together in Orlando for the league’s restart, the Pistons are in a tier of derisively described as the Delete-8.

With no games to play, and nobody who especially misses them with the top 73.3% of teams in action, they are essentially deleted from memory for the time being. It’s not a place any team wants to be in, nor is it a tier of the league that any organization would like to find itself in again.

As one of the Delete-8, the Pistons don’t have a clear future when it comes to team workouts and sanctioned basketball activities, and it’s the teams in their position who are trying to develop their youth movement that need that extra work more than anyone. While the players can’t play and the front office, coaching and training staffs are held in limbo by the ongoing pandemic raging throughout America, there’s one way the team can help itself in these trying times: Scouting of these ongoing games.

Of course, every team has eyes on all games, but some teams may be better equipped to flesh out a specific category of players. The team in question is the Detroit Pistons, and the category is two-way players.

Two-way contracts explained

Two-way contracts enable NBA teams to carry two players from their G-League team (generally) for up to 45 days in addition to their regular roster. These players make the league minimum for each of their 45 days and their regular G-League salary for the remainder of their season.

These contracts are a good way to get looks at their youngsters at the NBA level, or utilize them for depth in the case of injuries, and in some cases these two-way players are thrown to the wolves in an effort to see what they can do when the lights are bright.

The Pistons’ new level of competency in dealing with two-way players stems from their new general manager, Troy Weaver. Previously with the Oklahoma City Thunder, they had a major win in the two-way market in the form of Luguentz Dort, a 6’3”, 215 lbs defensive stud.

He signed a two-way contract with the Thunder last summer and it was converted to a full contract in advance of the NBA bubble in Orlando in June.

Of course, even more than the draft, the two-way contract is a crap shoot. Many of these players are either late second-round picks or undrafted, and only a very small percentage of this class of player ever even play in the NBA, let alone contributes, but the virtually nonexistent risk and the ability to try out multiple players in a single season makes it a gamble any team should utilize to the maximum.

A Brief History Of Detroit Pistons Two-Way Ineptitude

The Detroit Pistons’ first foray into the world of the two-way contract came when they signed Dwight Buycks to a deal in 2017-18. Buycks was 28 years old and played a strong championship game in that summer’s Orlando Summer League for the Dallas Mavericks against the Pistons, and team president and head coach Stan Van Gundy was positively smitten.

Never mind the fact that at 28 Buycks is still one of the oldest players ever signed to a two-way deal, or that he had been out of the NBA for three years by this point.

As it happened, Buycks was forced into action due to injury and various other misfortune, and actually earned himself a converted contract by January of that season. While he may have been the furthest thing from the typical two-way player and absolutely not what the Pistons should have invested in, he made the most of his opportunity and for that he deserves plenty of credit.

However, the Pistons need to do better this time.

Don’t Forget The Former Two-Way Players

The stock of players available for two-way deals likely won’t be clear until after the NBA draft, after the Finals, but in addition to these prospective two-way players, the Detroit Pistons need to keep an eye on current two-ways standing out in the NBA bubble. These players might be gettable for the Pistons for reasonable prices (maybe even near the minimum or a portion of the mid-level exception) and can help them stretch their available cap space in the coming offseason.

There have been plenty of standouts in the NBA bubble taking advantage of their opportunities. Chris Chiozza of the Brooklyn Nets is a restricted free agent which means the Nets can match any offer for his services, but he should be on the radar for a guard-hungry team like the Pistons. He led all two-way players in the NBA bubble with 21.8 minutes played per game, and he even had an impressive +8.0 net rating in his 153 total minutes.

Another name that should be on a watch list for Troy Weaver is Paul Watson of the Toronto Raptors. While he played five games in the bubble, he absolutely lit the world on fire in the finale against the Denver Nuggets, going off for 22 points, shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. He added six rebounds, two assists and a steal.

While small sample sizes should largely be eschewed, when it comes to low-risk, high-upside lottery tickets that a 25-year-old like Watson coming off of a two-way contract can provide, small samples should be regarded somewhat differently. After all, not everybody can score 22 points on 13 field goal attempts and three free throws, so players who can do that and cost next to nothing deserve a close look.

The Detroit Pistons are a team that need a few big hits, and there may be no better place to find them than in the two-way market, and the former two-way market.