The Detroit Pistons have multiple players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols. On Christmas, they signed a couple of reinforcements.
The Pistons signed Motor City Cruise guards Derrick Walton Jr. and Cassius Stanley to 10-day contracts using the NBA’s COVID-19-related hardship allowance, the team announced Saturday.
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Walton, a four-year starter at Michigan basketball from 2013-17, previously signed a 10-day contract with the Pistons on Feb. 21, 2020. He’s averaging 13.8 points, 7.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds with the Cruise this season. Stanley, a Duke alumnus who was drafted 54th overall in the 2020 draft, is averaging 9.6 points and 4.5 rebounds with the Cruise.
Detroit currently has five players in the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols — Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Saben Lee and Rodney McGruder. Cunningham entered the protocols Wednesday, and his four teammates joined him a day later.
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Per league rules, each player will either have to spend 10 days away from the team or produce two negative PCR tests to return.
Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @omarisankofa. The Free Press has started a new digital subscription model.