Woo is on his way back to Detroit. Javonte Green, who was the last player signed just before the start of last season, is once again claiming the 15th roster spot for the Pistons provided Jalen Duren returns and no additional transactions occur. We’ll circle back to that caveat shortly.
According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Green has agreed to a one-year contract with Detroit worth $3.95 million.
JB Bickerstaff appreciated the 18-game stretch Green had with the Cavaliers during the 2024-25 season under his coaching, so he brought him along to Detroit a move that paid off handsomely for both Green and the Pistons. He came in on a veteran minimum deal last year and outperformed every expectation placed on him.
Green appeared in all 82 regular-season contests for Detroit, knocking down threes at a personal-best clip while putting up 6.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals across 17.6 minutes per night. That’s a solid return for an undrafted player who left Radford back in 2015, spent multiple years overseas, and didn’t draw NBA interest until 2019.
Throughout last season, Green shifted between several backcourt roles, spending most of his time at shooting guard while also logging a healthy number of minutes at small forward. With how Detroit’s roster is currently constructed, they aren’t exactly short on bodies in those positions.
The Pistons are bringing back their starting backcourt from a year ago in Cade Cunningham and Duncan Robinson. They used a first-round pick on Eubuka Okorie, have Daniss Jenkins returning for a full season, added Isaiah Joe in a significant role, have Caris LeVert available to do his usual LeVert things, brought back last year’s second-rounder Chaz Lanier, and re-signed Kevin Huerter. And that’s before even factoring in Ausar Thompson being slotted in as the starting small forward with plans for heavy minutes.
That adds up to quite a logjam on the roster, even when you account for the expected trade of Marcus Sasser to the Mavericks once Detroit’s moves become official.
The frontcourt rotation, however, isn’t nearly as crowded. You can pencil Duren in for substantial minutes at center, with Paul Reed backing him up and Tolu Smith likely serving as an insurance big. At power forward, the current depth consists solely of John Collins and Ron Holland. Holland is capable of playing the four, but he’s only listed at 208 pounds. There were whispers late last season that Detroit had already lined up a deal for Isaac Bonga, a 6-foot-8 forward though it’s worth noting he weighs even less than Holland, and there’s no open roster spot for him right now.
All of which brings up an obvious question: could a consolidation trade be on the horizon? Rumors persist about Detroit’s interest in Trey Murphy if the asking price ever drops, and there were more speculative reports that the Pistons nearly landed Kevin Durant as part of a three-way swap involving Jaylen Brown and Alperen Sengun.
Trajan Langdon has certainly kept busy throughout this offseason. Whether the Green signing serves as the final piece of his work or the precursor to a larger deal remains to be seen.
Leave a Reply