The Pistons have waived center Micah Potter just days after officially signing him, Hoops Rumors has learned. Detroit had to cut Potter in order to make room on the 20-man offseason roster for Keifer Sykes, who signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the club.
Potter will be one of many players who is signed and then quickly waived by an NBA team in the coming weeks. The goal of these sign-and-waive transactions is generally to either secure the player’s G League rights as an affiliate player or to ensure that he’ll receive a $50K bonus as a returning rights player if and when he spends at least 60 days with the club’s G League squad.
In other words, Potter is likely to begin the season with the Motor City Cruise, the Pistons’ NBAGL team. The Cruise previously acquired his returning rights from the Sioux Falls Skyforce, the Heat’s affiliate.
Potter, 24, initially signed an Exhibit 10 contract with Miami last fall after going undrafted out of Wisconsin. He was released before the regular season began and spent most of his rookie year with the Skyforce, averaging 17.2 PPG and 9.8 RPG on .539/.445/.731 shooting in 33 NBAGL games (28.8 MPG).
In addition to earning him a spot on the All-NBAGL Rookie Team, Potter’s strong performance at the G League level earned him a brief look at the NBA level. The Pistons signed him to a 10-day contract in December and he appeared in three regular season contests, scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds in 31 total minutes.