Isaiah Stewart has agreed to a four-year, $60 million extension to stay with the Detroit Pistons. The deal can get up to a total of $64 million with performance bonuses, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Stewart was the No. 16 pick in the 2020 NBA Draft—one of three first-round picks from Troy Weaver’s first draft at the helm in Detroit.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski was the first to report on the extension.
Detroit Pistons F/C Isaiah Stewart has agreed on a four-year, $64 million rookie contract extension, his agent Drew Gross of @RocNationSports tells ESPN. Stewart gets the first non-maximum extension for the 2020 draft class. pic.twitter.com/9a2W7tLj23
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 11, 2023
Entering his fourth year in the league, Stewart has averaged 9.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, and a block per game throughout his career. Last season, he averaged 11.3 points and 8.1 rebounds prior to being shut down for the season due to injury.
The big man has consistently worked on his 3-point shot, increasing his volume to 4.1 attempts per game last year, after not averaging more than one 3-point attempt per game in either of his first two seasons. Shooting is the largest upside for Stewart moving forward. If he can connect on more attempts on a similar volume, he will be able to effectively space the floor from the Pistons frontcourt.
Stewart’s extension will average $15 million per year before any performance bonuses, with the last year of the contract including a team option, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.
Weaver’s commitment to Stewart is an encouraging sign for the development of home-grown talent within the organization, being the team’s first rookie extension in over a decade, as Wojnarowski mentioned in his story on ESPN.
This is the Pistons’ first rookie extension since owner Tom Gores purchased the franchise in 2011 — and the first for the organization since Jason Maxiell in 2008.
After both Saddiq Bey and Saben Lee were traded to Atlanta and Utah, respectively, Stewart and Killian Hayes remain as the last ones standing from Detroit’s 2020 draft class. Hayes is extension eligible, although it does not seem likely that an extension will be coming in the near future.
Stewart will remain a part of the Pistons’ young core moving forward as the first of the team’s young players to get paid—prior to Cade Cunningham becoming extension eligible next offseason.