Since he was drafted in 2020, Isaiah Stewart has established himself as a difference-maker for the Detroit Pistons. His future with the franchise has now been secured.
Stewart signed a four-year, $64 million rookie extension with the Detroit Pistons on Monday, league sources told the Free Press. His contract is guaranteed for $45 million through the first three seasons, with Year 4 being a team option. While the deal averages out to $15 million per year, there are performance bonuses that can push the average to $16 million per year.
He’s the first Pistons draft pick to sign a second contract with the organization since Andre Drummond inked a five-year, $127 million contract in 2016.
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In 50 games last season, Stewart averaged a career-high 11.3 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He’s one of the best defenders on the roster, capable of holding down the post and switching onto smaller players on the perimeter. That, along with his developing outside jumper and his leadership on and off of the floor, has made him a priority for the front office and a big part of Detroit’s future.
He transitioned from center to power forward last season, and averaged 4.1 3-point attempts per game on 32.7% shooting. But he started hot, knocking down 38.1% of his attempts through his first 29 games before slumping to 25.3% during his final 21. The Pistons are bullish on the former number being a better indicator of where he is as a floor-spacer.
“I feel like I don’t have a ceiling,” Stewart said during his end-of-season availability. “It’s a lot of room for growth. I know when first I got drafted, people viewed me as a different player. I put the work in to work on my skills to continue to develop my game. I don’t know what the final version looks like because I’m going to continue to put in the work and continue to build my game as much as possible.”
A left shoulder impingement prematurely ended his season on Feb. 25, but Pistons general manager Troy Weaver was excited by what he saw during Stewart’s 50 games. Stewart filled a leadership void on the team after shin surgery ended Cade Cunningham’s season in November.
Bigs who can defend and space the floor have become valuable in today’s NBA. While the latter is a work in progress for Stewart, he’s shown enough through three seasons for the Pistons to feel comfortable locking him in longterm.
“Coach will tell you his competitive spirit really is the heartbeat of the team,” Weaver said in April. “And him being out, you can watch the game and we competed a lot of nights, but just his competitive spirit drives the group. He’s definitely developing. Coach talks about growing his game in increments, and he’s done that. We expect him to continue to do that. Isaiah can play with any of those bigs, he can play small ball five, he can play the four. He’s a guy that you want on your team. He’s a foxhole guy. But his competitive spirit is really what drives us, he and Cade.
“Having him out, that was as big of a loss as Cade being out with his competitive spirit.”
Stewart’s extension was initially reported by ESPN.