The Detroit Pistons are trimming payroll. The Memphis Grizzlies are adding one of the NBA’s better rim protectors. On Wednesday night, midway through the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft, the deal was announced: Detroit is sending Isaiah Stewart to Memphis in exchange for three future second-round picks, per ESPN and NBA.com.
It’s a clean financial move for a Pistons team managing rapidly escalating costs. It’s a legitimate defensive upgrade for a Grizzlies roster that needed one.
Why Detroit let him go
Stewart, 25, earned seventh place in Sixth Man of the Year voting this past season after averaging 10 points on 55% shooting, five rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game off the bench – numbers that helped push the Pistons past 60 wins for the first time in 20 years. That production, and those blocks, made him valuable. The salary structure made him expendable.
Cade Cunningham is now on a max extension. Jalen Duren is a restricted free agent this summer. Ausar Thompson is eligible for an extension. The financial pressure was real, and Stewart – with two years and $30 million remaining on his contract plus a team option for 2027-28 – was the logical lever to pull. Detroit gets back three second-round picks and clears future flexibility.
What Memphis is getting
Basket protection was high on the Grizzlies’ offseason list. Stewart delivered on that front at a level that led the league last season: opponents shot just 44% at the rim when he was the primary defender, among players with at least 100 shots defended, per NBA Advanced Stats.
He slides into a Memphis system that has typically valued length and athleticism on the interior. The Grizzlies don’t give up a young asset or a first-round pick to land him – three second-rounders is a measured price for a proven backup big who can protect the paint and contribute in limited offensive action.
Pistons’ offseason calculus
Detroit’s front office spent the week of the draft making calculated moves to extend runway for its young core. Stewart was a key rotation piece, but not an irreplaceable one given the current financial demands. The Pistons now enter free agency with more room to operate, leaning on Cunningham, Duren and Thompson as the pillars of what’s next.
Three second-round picks won’t define the trade either way. The defining factor is whether Detroit’s cap management creates room for the piece that pushes them from 60-win contender to genuine title threat. That part starts now.
