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The Detroit Pistons continue to add some veteran talent to the team’s young roster.
The Pistons acquired 11-year veteran Tim Hardaway Jr. and a trio of second-round pick in a deal with the Dallas Mavericks for guard Quentin Grimes.
Meanwhile, the club reportedly agreed to a two-year deal for $16 million with restricted free-agent forward Simone Fontecchio while also reportedly agreeing to a one-year deal for $6 million with guard Malik Beasley.
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Hardaway Jr. has spent parts of eight seasons with Dallas and went to the NBA Final this season. He has twice finished in the top 10 in Sixth Man of the Year voting. He was ninth this season in voting for that award after averaging 14.4 points per games and 3.2 rebounds per game while averaging 35.2 per cent from three-point range.
The deal enabled the Mavericks to clear $16.1 million in cap space, which is what Hardaway Jr. is set to make in 2024-25, which is the final year of his contract.
A University of Michigan product, Hardaway gives a young Detroit roster a proven veteran scorer. As well, the club picked up Toronto’s second-round pick in 2025 and a pair of second-round picks in 2028.
The Pistons acquired the 28-year-old Fontecchio in a trade with Utah last season. He was averaging just 8.9 points per game with Utah, but his numbers jumped to 15.4 points per game and 4.4 rebounds per game with the Pistons over the final 16 games, which featured nine starts. He also shot 42.6 per cent from three-point range.
The 27-year-old Beasley shot 41.3 per cent from three-point range for the Milwaukee Bucks while averaging 11.3 points and 3.7 rebounds in 79 games.
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The six-foot-four Beasley is expected to move to shooting guard next to Cade Cunningham, which will allow the club to move former first-round pick Jaden Ivey to a reserve role to help his development.
Those additions join veteran forward Tobias Harris, who signed a two-year deal for $52 million with the club as new team president Trajan Langdon still has about $20 million left in cap space.
Also on Saturday, the Pistons signed first-round pick Ron Holland II to his rookie contract.
The six-foot-seven, 197-pound Holland was the fifth overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft out of the G League Ignite and was projected to get $37.5 million over four seasons.
The 19-year-old Holland II average 19.5 points, 6.7 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.4 steals in 29 games in the G League last season.
As well, the Pistons formally completed a draft day trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Detroit acquired the rights to 37th overall pick Bobi Klintman and guard/forward Wendell Moore Jr. in exchange for the rights to guard Cam Spencer, who was the 53rd overall pick and traded to Memphis by Minnesota.
The six-foot-nine, 212-pound Klintman, who is from Sweden, played in the Australian NBL’s Next Stars Program and averaged 9.7 points per game in 23 games with an average of 4.8 rebounds per game while shooting 35.7 per cent from three-point range.
The 22-year-old Moore Jr. was the 26th pick in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft out of Duke University, but has struggled for playing time in two seasons.
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