Shortly after details emerged on Richard Hamilton's buyout, the Pistons announced that they signed tweener journeyman Damien Wilkins. Here's the press release from the team:
The Detroit Pistons announced today that they have signed guard-forward Damien Wilkins. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Wilkins, 31, appeared in 52 games for the Atlanta Hawks last season averaging 3.5 points and 1.7 rebounds in 13.0 minutes per game. He appeared in eight postseason contests with the Hawks, averaging 1.8 points and 1.0 rebounds in 4.9 minutes per game. The seven-year NBA pro has career averages of 6.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 20.0 minutes in 442 games with Seattle, Oklahoma City, Minnesota and Atlanta. Undrafted out of the University of Georgia, Wilkins enjoyed his best season a pro with Seattle in 2007-08 when he averaged 9.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 76 games (31 starts). He scored a career-high 41 points with a season-high nine rebounds at Atlanta (11/16) that season in addition to notching his 2,000th career point vs. Phoenix (3/19/08).
Wilkins is the son of 13-year NBA veteran Gerald Wilkins and nephew of Atlanta Hawks legend Dominique Wilkins.
Matt Watson of Detroit Bad Boys weighs in with his thoughts on the signing:
He's a typical back-of-the-rotation player who does a little bit of everything, nothing particularly well. On the flip-side, he's entering his eighth year after going undrafted, so I'm guessing he has a solid work ethic. You need bodies to fill out a roster, and if he can bring some scrappy professionalism to the locker room, I don't see the harm, so long as he's not taking too many minutes from younger players.
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