Summers signs with Pistons

August 9, 5:16 PMGeorgetown Hoyas Basketball ExaminerMike Glauser

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DaJuan Summers earned himself an NBA paycheck with his solid summer league play Allen Einstein (NBAE/Getty)

DaJuan Summers, along with fellow draftees Austin Daye and Jonas Jerebko signed with the Detroit Pistons on Friday. The terms of the deal were not discussed.
 

Without knowing the exact specifics of the deal, second round picks normally get 2-year deals, with a team option for the third. Normally, since Summers has first round talent and is ready to play right now, his deal will be guaranteed for at least those first two years. But even though Summers punches above his weight as second rounder, the Pistons just spent a truckload of money on free agents Ben Gordon, Charlie Villanueva, and to a lesser extent Ben Wallace, so they may be unwilling to commit to three fully guaranteed deals.

Daye, being a first rounder and a guy that Joe Dumars was gushing over throughout the predraft workouts, won't have to worry about getting paid, but Summers doesn't have as much leeway, and Jerebko has even less of a guaranteed payday.

But Joe Dumars has consistently been one of the best GMs in the league for almost a decade, and he's well aware of how little it costs to employ rookies, versus retaining the services of a veteran at the same position. So it's fair to expect that Summers will be getting a steady paycheck, at least for the next two years.

Hoya alum updates:

Patrick Ewing Jr., still under the quasi-employ of the New York Knicks, missed the summer league with injuries, and is still hoping to land with a team. That's the bad news. The good news is that the
Knicks are still gearing up to make a run at signing Lebron James in the summer of 2010, and have been jettisoning players left and right in an attempt to clear enough salary cap to sign the Cleveland native.

This means that the Knicks have a skeletal roster and will be looking for low-cost personnel to play on their team this season. So if Ewing can get healthy, the Knicks may sign him, partially for his hustle and
defense, and partially in an attempt to sell more Knicks jerseys with the name "Ewing" on the back.