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We got the news from Woj:
Lithuanian G/F Deividas Sirvydis has agreed to a three-year contract with the Detroit Pistons, agent Michael Tellem of @caa_sports and agent Marius Rutkauskas tell ESPN. Sirvydis was selected with the 37th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 1, 2020
We don’t have exact contract numbers, but assume the number is... small. Additionally, per James Edwards of The Athletic, the third year is non-guaranteed:
Can confirm what @wojespn reported about Deividas Sirvydis signing a three-year deal with the #Pistons. The third year isn't guaranteed, per sources.
— James Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) December 1, 2020
In case you forgot - it’s been a while - Deividas Sirvydis is a 20-year-old, 6’8 guard from Lithuania. I’ma call him “Dave” because typing Deividas is hard and a Lithuanian dude named Dave is funny to me.
Dave was drafted in 2019 using some of the picks from the Jon Leuer > Tony Snell > Kevin Porter Jr. trade succession, leading to an immediate outcry among fans that, you know, really wanted to draft Kevin Porter Jr. Sirvydis also caught a lot of flak because he is represented by Michael Tellem, aka Palace Sports & Entertainment Vice Chairman Arn Tellem’s son, leading to charges of nepotism / handouts from father to son.
I say all this to say that lots of people have been predisposed to be against the concept of Dave for a year and change now. And that ignores what Dave has the potential to offer the future Detroit Pistons: Another wing shooter.
Everything you like about Remaining Holdover Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, you can like about Dave. Dave shot 36% from three in 60 games across three leagues in 2018-19, and 35% from three in 40 games for Lietuvos Rytas in 2019-20. Dave fits the height requirement Troy Weaver has seemingly instituted in the backcourt, and, again, like Svi, he’s got a little juice in his dribble hand-off game. He’s been slowly adding bulk to his frame, going from a REAL skinny 18-year-old to a regularly skinny 20-year-old since he’s been drafted.
That said, is Dave going to play a lot for the Pistons this season? Probably not - initial reporting is that he will spend a lot of time in the G-League with the Grand Rapids Drive. Down the line, though, there’s absolutely a chance that a team as starved for shooting as the Pistons are could turn to Dave.
Welcome to Detroit, Deividas.