Detroit Signs Deron Washington to Guaranteed Contract

Report: Detroit Pistons sign Deron Washington to guaranteed contract
Posted by Dave Dial July 03, 2009 00:01AM

Deron Washington's coach at Virginia Tech has stated that the Detroit Pistons and Deron Washington have agreed to a guaranteed contract.

July 3, Daily Press: Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg posted on his Twitter account that former Hokies standout Deron Washington has signed a guaranteed contract with the Detroit Pistons, who selected him 59th overall (second round) in the 2008 NBA draft.

This was sent to me via email by Full-Court Press reader Erik S., who also speculated that the Pistons signing Washington to a guaranteed contract could mean that he is involved in a trade that will be consummated July 8th, when free agents can sign and teams can begin making trades.

Moves like that (signing players like Washington to guaranteed contracts) are often made when one team has to send back a certain amount of money back in a trade. For example, if Detroit is $4 million under the cap after signing Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva and were to get involved with the Hornets in a trade for Tyson Chandler, the Pistons would have to send back a certain amount of salaries in order to make it work.

Chandler makes $12.2 million dollars, and the Pistons might be $4 million under the cap so a straight salary dump couldn't work. Stay tuned...

(Update: I've been informed that there is a 30 day waiting period when you sign a second-round pick before that player can be traded. Thanks to Eric Pincus of Hoops World for the correcting Tweet. Matt Watson of DetroitBadBoys.com chimes in with his always interesting take.)

NOTEBOOK: There are Internet reports that the Pistons have signed 2008 second-round pick Deron Washington to a two-year guaranteed deal. The reports are premature as contracts can't be signed until Wednesday, when the league's moratorium ends. Still, the organization is very interested in the 6-foot-6 wing player who had a solid season overseas. There are some within the organization who feel he should have been on the roster last season. He will be watched closely when summer league play begins Friday in Las Vegas.