Smith provided four points (2-2 FG), two rebounds and one steal over five minutes during Sunday's 125-94 loss to the Cavaliers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Playing in his second NBA season, Smith was mostly reduced to G League appearances. With the Pistons, he appeared in just 15 regular-season contests with averages of 3.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 9.1 minutes per game.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Secures two-year deal
Rotowire
Smith signed a two-year contract with the Pistons on Tuesday, Shams Charania of ESPN reports.
Smith was previously on a two-way contract with Detroit. He's made a total of 13 NBA appearances, posting averages of 3.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.5 blocks in 10.0 minutes per contest.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Available Saturday
Rotowire
Smith (knee) is available for Saturday's game against the Bulls.
Smith will shed his questionable tag due to a right knee contusion and suit up Saturday. However, he isn't guaranteed to see meaningful minutes with Jalen Duren (suspension) back in the lineup.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Dealing with knee contusion
Rotowire
Smith is listed as questionable for Saturday's game against the Bulls due to a right knee contusion.
Smith may have sustained the injury during the Pistons' 126-111 win over the Knicks on Thursday, when he played 15 minutes and finished with three points, three rebounds and two assists. Even if he were cleared to play, Smith's minutes would likely take a significant dip, given that Jalen Duren will be available to play Saturday after serving a two-game suspension.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Cracks rotation Wednesday
Rotowire
Smith recorded up three points (1-3 FG, 1-3 FT), three rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes during Wednesday's 113-95 win over the Raptors.
With Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart both suspended, Smith entered the rotation as the backup to center Paul Reed, who entered the starting five in Duren's stead. The appearance was just Smith's sixth of the season with Detroit and his first at any level since Jan. 26, when he sustained a calf injury while playing for the G League's Motor City Cruise. Now healthy again, Smith should be part of the rotation for the Pistons' next game Feb. 19 versus the Knicks before Duren returns from his two-game ban Feb. 21 at Chicago.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Available Wednesday
Rotowire
Smith (calf) isn't listed on the Pistons' injury report for Wednesday's game against the Raptors.
The two-way center has made just five appearances for Detroit all season and hadn't seen action in the G League with the Motor City Cruise since Jan. 26 while he managed a calf issue, but he joined the Pistons for morning shootaround Wednesday and should be available to play in the club's final game before the All-Star break, per Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. With Jalen Duren (two games) and Isaiah Stewart (seven games) receiving suspensions for their roles in a brawl that occurred in Monday's win over the Hornets, Paul Reed will likely step into a high-minute role as the Pistons' starting center, but Smith could be part of the rotation as Reed's backup until Duren is back in the fold.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Career-best performance
Rotowire
Smith accumulated nine points (1-7 FG, 7-8 FT), 14 rebounds, one assist, four blocks and one steal in 26 minutes during Saturday's 98-92 loss to the Clippers.
Smith played just the sixth game of his career, dominating the glass with a career-high 14 rebounds while adding a career-high four blocks. Both Jalen Duren (ankle) and Isaiah Stewart (illness) were sidelined, while Paul Reed was limited to just 22 minutes due to foul trouble. This allowed Smith to step into the largest role of his career, rewarding anyone who took a chance on him in deeper formats. While this was a great performance, it should be treated as nothing more than an outlier unless Duren and Stewart continue to miss time.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Rare appearance Wednesday
Rotowire
Smith finished with six points (3-4 FG), seven rebounds, two assists and one block over 16 minutes during Wednesday's 124-113 victory over Chicago.
Smith played a season-high 16 minutes, moving into the rotation after it was earlier announced that Detroit would be without a number of its starters due to various injuries. This performance should not be viewed as anything other than an outlier, given he has not even been in the rotation for the majority of the season.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Double-doubles in preseason
Rotowire
Smith produced 11 points (4-6 FG, 3-7 FT), 11 rebounds, two assists and one block in 12 minutes of Monday's 128-112 preseason win over Memphis.
Jalen Duren was out with hamstring soreness, allowing Smith to absorb some backup center minutes behind Isaiah Stewart. Smith, who is on a two-way contract, is expected to spend a lot of time in the G League this season. To his credit, he certainly showed the coaching staff that he'll be ready if his name is called upon this season.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Scores through charity stripe
Rotowire
Smith tallied 16 points (4-7 FG, 8-12 FT), six rebounds, three blocks and one assist over 26 minutes in Tuesday's 89-73 Summer League loss to the Timberwolves.
Smith came up short of securing his third double-double of Summer League play but still managed to post 16 points, largely fueled by frequent trips to the free-throw line. The center spent nearly all of the 2024-25 season in the G League but made one regular-season NBA appearance with the Pistons, logging 14 points and eight rebounds in 22 minutes against the Bucks on April 13.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Double-doubles in win
Rotowire
Smith racked up 15 points (4-7 FG, 7-8 FT), 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks across 23 minutes during Sunday's 98-83 Summer League win against the Rockets.
Smith has recorded double-doubles in two straight games during the Las Vegas Summer League. The Mississippi State product continues to be a monster on the glass for Detroit, as he has racked up 23 boards across the last two games.
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Pistons' Tolu Smith: Two-way effort in Summer League
Rotowire
Smith generated 16 points (6-13 FG, 4-7 FT), 11 rebounds, two assists, one steal and two blocks over 26 minutes of Friday's 104-86 Summer League win over the Knicks.
Smith's high-motor play style was on full display Friday, notching a double-double and accumulating three combined steals-plus-blocks in 26 minutes. Six of his 11 rebounds came on the offensive end, where he outmuscled New York's bigs for second-chance opportunities.
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