Joe Johnson
LeBron James and Joe Johnson #1 of the Triplets celebrate after the Triplets defeated the Killer 3s to win the BIG3 Championship at Staples Center on September 01, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. Harry How/BIG3 via Getty Images

The Detroit Pistons have won the race to sign Big 3 Championship MVP Joe Johnson after holding a workout with the veteran forward earlier in the week. The Brooklyn Nets were also looking to sign the forward after they lost Wilson Chandler to a 25-game suspension earlier in the month for violating the league’s Anti-Drug policy.

The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that the Detroit franchise had reached a partially guaranteed one-year deal with the forward, who last played in the NBA in 2018 when signed with the Houston Rockets. Johnson became the first player from Ice Cube’s Big 3 championship to land an NBA deal.

The 38-year-old averaged 6.0 points with 38.1 percent shooting in 23 games for the Rockets last year before moving to the Big 3 with the Triplets. He led them to the championship in 2019 while also winning the MVP accolade.

Johnson has played in the NBA for 17 seasons, racking up an average of 16.0 points with 44 percent shooting. He is not expected to be given a major role in the team for the upcoming season but will provide backup to Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond in the Pistons front court.

It was reported that the Pistons have waived Michael Beasley, who had agreed a one-year non-guaranteed deal with the franchise, but according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks that is not the case. The former Lakers forward had not put pen-to-paper despite the agreement and it now sees him become an unrestricted free agent yet again.

“Detroit will not have to have put a waiver request in for Michael Beasley. The veteran never signed a contract with the Pistons. Barring a trade to open a roster spot, Joe Johnson will compete against Christian Wood for roster spot no. 15,” Marks wrote.

Wood, a reserve center, is also on a non-guaranteed deal at the moment and with just one roster spot remaining for the Pistons, he will be competing with Johnson, who according to Charania already holds a partially guaranteed deal, which could see him also be cut after training camp.

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