Detroit Pistons Re-sign Another Key Contributor

Woo is coming back to Detroit. Javonte Green, the final player signed before the start of the season last year, again takes the 15th roster spot for the Detroit Pistons, assuming Jalen Duren comes back and no other moves. We’ll get to that last bit again soon.

Green is signing a one-year, $3.95 million deal with the Pistons, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.

JB Bickerstaff liked the 18-game stint he had with the Cavs when he coached there in 2024-25 and brought him along to Detroit, where both Green and the Pistons had massive success. He signed for a veteran minimum deal last year and surpassed all expectations.

Green played in all 82 regular-season games for the Pistons, shooting a career high from three while averaging 6.9 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.2 steals in 17.6 minutes per game. Not bad for an undrafted player who left Radford in 2015, spent years overseas before garnering NBA interest in 2019.

Green spent last season at various backcourt positions, primarily shooting guard and with a healthy mix of small forward. The Pistons aren’t exactly hurting for bodies at those positions with their current roster makeup.

The Pistons return last year’s starting backcourt of Cade Cunningham and Duncan Robinson. They drafted Eubuka Okorie in the first round, have Daniss Jenkins back for another full season, added Isaiah Joe to play a major role, have Caris LeVert to do LeVert things, brought back last year’s second-rounder Chaz Lanier, and re-signed Kevin Huerter. That doesn’t even account for the fact that the team is slotting in Ausar Thompson as the starting small forward with an eye toward major minutes.

That is quite a roster glut, even if you’re factoring in the likely trade of Marcus Sasser to the Mavericks once all of Detroit’s moves can be made official.

The big man rotation is not quite so robust. Pencil in Duren for major minutes at center. His backup is Paul Reed, and Detroit will likely look to Tolu Smith as an insurance big. The power forward spot is just John Collins and Ron Holland as it stands today. Holland can certainly play the power forward spot, but he’s listed at just 208 pounds. There were reports late last season that the Pistons had already made arrangements to add Isaac Bonga, a 6-foot-8 forward. We will see if that rumored deal comes to fruition, but it is important to note that he weighs even less than Holland, and there isn’t currently a roster spot available for him.

It all begs the question. Is a consolidation trade coming? There are still murmurs of the Pistons being in on a Trey Murphy deal if the price ever comes down. There were sketchier reports that Detroit almost landed Kevin Durant in a three-way trade involving Jaylen Brown and Alperen Sengun.

Trajan Langdon has certainly been active this offseason. We will see if the Green signing is the capper to his offseason or the final move before a major deal emerges.