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NBA Free Agency: Detroit Pistons Sign Elijah Harkless To 2-Way Deal
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- NBA Free Agency: Detroit Pistons Sign Elijah Harkless To 2-Way Deal
With the Summer League officially kicking off for the Detroit Pistons last night en route to a 101-93 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers , the Motown squad has added one final two-way player to their roster by signing unrestricted free agent Elijah Harkless .
At the moment, the Pistons already have a pair of two-way players under contract in second-round pick Ugonna Onyenso and Isaac Jones , who joined the organization last season. But with Harkless in the fold, the Pistons now have a guard to rotate between the Pistons and their G-League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, at their disposal in addition to the big men.
Harkless, who is 26 years old and played his college ball at UNLV, spent the last two seasons with the Utah Jazz after starring for the Salt Lake City Stars. With the Jazz, Harkless only featured in 10 games during the 2024-25 campaign but increased that number to 26 games with nine starts last season while logging 21 minutes per game.
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Though Harkless is widely considered to be an impact defender on the perimeter, the 6-3 guard has not been able to translate his offensive skill set from the G-League to the NBA thus far after posting 22.3 points and 6.3 assists per game with the Stars in the 2025-26 season, though he did contribute 1.6 steals and 0.4 blocks each night to total two stocks per game with Salt Lake City.
As for his Jazz performance, Harkless contributed to a 60-loss squad that actively tanked all season long with 6.8 points, 2.9 assists, 2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, so his level might just be on the fringe of the association. However, the Pistons have shown a desire to keep multiple defensive specialists on the roster, so it is possible that his skill set becomes useful for Detroit at some point down the road.
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But when analyzing what Harkless brings to the table, it is impossible to ignore his immense struggles as a shooter after registering a 33.5% rate from the field and 23.9% from beyond the arc. But as stated before, the Pistons did not bring Harkless in to perform as a knock-down shooter. Instead, the hard-working two-way player hustles and brings an element of tenacity that simply cannot be coached. Some players either have a high motor or they do not, and Harkless falls comfortably in the former category.
By all indications, Harkless is a depth signing that should help the Cruise given the success that he experienced in the G-League previously. The Pistons have a positive track record of developing talent from the G-League considering Daniss Jenkins made the jump from the Cruise to a full-time contract with Detroit last season, but DJ is also a much more accomplished scorer at the pro level than what we've seen from Harkless up to this point.
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