The Detroit Pistons made a surprise post-Christmas cut, releasing 2020 UVA Hoops alum Braxton Key from his two-way contract to make room for rookie guard Jared Rhoden.
Key got an extended look at the NBA level late last season and did well, averaging 8.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 21.2 minutes per game over a nine-game stretch.
Over his last five games at the end of last season, Key averaged 10.8 points and scored in double-digits in four of the five games, with 14 points (on 5-of-6 shooting) and five rebounds in a loss to Dallas on April 6, and 12 points and nine rebounds in a win at Indiana on April 3.
In 17 games with the Pistons’ G League team this season, Key averaged 17.0 points and 7.9 rebounds per game.
The 6’8″ Key was also a force defensively, as he was at Virginia, where he won a national title in 2019.
In both the G League and the NBA, Key has been able to demonstrate his ability to guard positions 1-5, and has been effective as a small-ball center.
Rhoden, a 2023 undrafted free agent from Seton Hall, is with his third NBA organization in his brief time as a professional, after being signed and then released by Portland and Atlanta in the offseason and preseason.
In 18 games in the G League, Rhoden is averaging 13.9 points and 6.5 rebounds, shooting 54.7 percent from the floor and 51.4 percent from three.
Syracuse alum Buddy Boeheim is Detroit’s other two-way contract guy.
Boeheim, in 17 G League games, is averaging 9.6 points on 38.1 percent shooting from the floor and 35.7 percent shooting from three.
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Chris Graham
