Pistons may ask Peyton Siva to play overseas

After releasing Kim English and accounting for rookies Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Tony Mitchell, the Pistons will enter the season with the NBA maximum of 15 players under contract. That's bad news for Peyton Siva, who's currently the odd man out, barring another roster move later this summer. From MLive.com's David Mayo:

The Pistons have until Sept. 6 to tender an offer for next season to No. 56 overall draft pick Peyton Siva and Dumars said he has had discussions with the player's agent about all the possibilities, including Siva agreeing to play overseas in 2013-14 so the Pistons could retain his rights. "We liked him a lot," in summer league, Dumars said of Siva. "He had a great showing and he's someone that we have a great interest in either keeping or retaining his rights."

Siva did everything the Pistons could have expected and more during the Orlando Summer League, averaging 7.8 points, 6.0 assists, 3.0 steals and just 1.5 turnovers in 25.8 minutes per game. The one downside? He shot just 29.6 percent from the field. He'll never be asked to carry the offensive load, though, and the fact he does a lot of point guard-y things will certainly earn him a shot in the NBA.

Whether that's this year or down the road remains to be seen, but given all that Siva has already overcome -- read this amazing profile by Vincent Goodwill to get a glimpse -- I doubt spending a season in Europe will stop him. Hopefully he can follow Kyle Singler's example, getting another year of experience under his belt and contributing as a rotation player in 2014-15. I know a certain 7-footer will also be rooting for him ...