DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons signed Luka Garza and Chris Smith to two-way contracts.
Detroit selected Garza, the AP national player of the year, with the No. 52 overall pick in the draft.
The 6-foot-11, 235-pound center played well for the Pistons during the NBA Summer League, averaging 15 points and 9.6 rebounds.
He averaged 24.1 points and 8.7 rebounds last season at Iowa.
The team signed Smith as an undrafted free agent, giving a player an opportunity after having a season-ending knee surgery last year at UCLA.
The 6-foot-9, 215-pound forward averaged 12.6 points and 6.4 rebounds in eight games last season. Smith averaged eight points over four seasons with the Bruins.
Meanwhile, champion Milwaukee Bucks and the Brooklyn Nets will be the showcase teams when the NBA opens the 2021-22 regular season on October 19, the league announced according to AFP.
Following a shortened offseason due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Bucks will host the Nets in one of two opening night games.
The other contest will feature the Golden State Warriors and the Los Angeles Lakers, who recently signed all-star guard Russell Westbrook.
The Christmas Day schedule will see the Nets face the Lakers and the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks battle the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City. The other holiday game sees the Atlanta Hawks visit the New York Knicks.
The 2022 NBA all-star game will take place on February 20, in Cleveland, Ohio.
The regular season is scheduled to end April 10 and the official playoffs begin April 16 following a brief play-in tournament.
The league plans to release its full schedule on August 20.
All-Star center Joel Embiid is staying with the Philadelphia 76ers after signing a contract extension, the team announced.
Per reports, the deal guarantees Embiid a total of $261 million because he was already set to make $65 million in the final two seasons under the terms of his current deal.
The Memphis Grizzlies are trading guard Patrick Beverley to the Minnesota Timberwolves for guard Jarrett Culver and forward Juancho Hernangomez.
With the trade, Minnesota gets the toughness and leadership of Beverley for its young, developing roster. Timberwolves president of basketball operations Gersson Rosas is familiar with Beverley after their time together with the Houston Rockets.
Memphis, meanwhile, continues to add talent along the margins. Culver, 22, was the sixth overall pick in the 2019 draft and averaged 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 34 games last season. Hernangomez, 25, averaged 7.2 points and 3.9 rebounds in 52 games last season.
The Grizzlies acquired Beverley from the LA Clippers in the trade that sent Eric Bledsoe to Los Angeles.
Beverley, 33, was a popular player with the Clippers, with whom he spent the past four years of his career. He lost his starting job to guard Reggie Jackson in the Western Conference playoffs.
He was a fan favorite in L.A. because of his defense and hustle and was an emotional leader for the Clippers when they exceeded expectations and surprisingly made the postseason in 2019.
He was able to play in only 37 games last season because of injuries, however.
In nine seasons for the Rockets and the Clippers, Beverley averaged 8.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 468 regular-season games.
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