Detroit Pistons sign big man Chimezie Metu to 10-day contract as injuries pile up
The Detroit Pistons have picked up more frontcourt depth on a short deal late in the season.
The Pistons are signing forward Chimezie Metu to a 10-day contract, the team announced Wednesday morning. Metu, a sixth-year NBA player who is 26, previously played before the Phoenix Suns this season before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, where he was subsequently waived before the trade deadline.
The move comes as the Pistons deal with an increasingly filled-up injury report. Ahead of the game Wednesday against the Indiana Pacers, the Pistons have five players listed on the daily injury report. Simone Fontecchio (left toe) and Taj Gibson (right hamstring soreness) are both listed as questionable, while Quentin Grimes (right knee contusion), Isaiah Stewart (right hamstring strain) and Ausar Thomspon (illness) are all listed as out.
Metu entered the league as a second-round pick of the San Antonio Spurs in the 2018 draft. He played sparingly in his first two seasons with the Spurs before being waived, then signed a contract with the Sacramento Kings. He appeared in 162 games over three seasons with the Kings as a rotational player off the bench, averaging 6.7 points and 4.0 rebounds in 15.2 minutes per game. He signed as a free agent with the Suns in the offseason before being shipped to Memphis in a three-team trade that sent Royce O'Neal to the desert.
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For his career, Metu is averaging 5.6 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while playing an average of 12.8 minutes per game. This season with the Suns, Metu, who is listed at 6 feet 9 and 225 pounds, averaged 5.0 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12.1 minutes per game over 37 appearances. He has not played in a game since Feb. 4.
Metu is the second big man the Pistons have brought in on a 10-day deal following the trade deadline. The team previously signed longtime veteran forward Taj Gibson to a 10-day deal before converting him to a contract that would keep him in Detroit through the end of the season. Gibson has only made one appearance for the Pistons, but they've kept him around because of his mentoring ability with Detroit's young frontcourt contributors.
The Pistons are trying to find any way to finish the season on a positive note, including adding players for a late-season audition. Detroit (12-56) sits just ahead of the Washington Wizards as the worst team in the NBA and is officially eliminated from playoff contention with a chance to set the franchise record for losses in a single season.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons sign big man Chimezie Metu to 10-day contract
