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Grabbing Tolliver to stretch the floor a "no-brainer" for Pistons, SVG says

Stan Van Gundy knows there will be many agonizing decisions ahead as he rebuilds the Pistons around Andre Drummond. But trading for Anthony Tolliver wasn't one of them.

"He's a solid pro with a very good contract," Van Gundy said of the Christmas eve deal that sent little-used Tony Mitchell to Phoenix for Tolliver, a power forward with deep shooting range. "It's a value contract. It really was a no-brainer, quite honeslty."

Tolliver, 29, is a seven-year veteran who fits Van Gundy's profile of a stretch four.

"I like shooting at the four spot – a lot," he said. "We'll use him to stretch the floor in pick and rolls and to open the middle."

Greg Monroe will start at power forward next to Andre Drummond tonight and for the foreseeable future with this week's waiving of Josh Smith, who reached agreement with the Houston Rockets 48 hours after the Pistons let him go. Jonas Jerebko and Tolliver will also be in the mix for minutes at power forward.

"How we'll work the minutes with (Tolliver) and Jonas and Greg and everything is yet to be determined," Van Gundy said. "But he's a guy who can space the floor. Made over 100 threes last year at 41 percent. His playing time has been a little more limited in Phoenix with the Morris twins, but still shooting 39 percent from three in the time he's gotten. I know how we'll use him offensively, I just don't know when or how much."

Tolliver, Van Gundy said, will arrive at The Palace about an hour before tonight's game and take his physical then, but will not be in uniform. Assuming all checks out medically, Tolliver would practice with the Pistons on Saturday and travel with them for Sunday's game at Cleveland.

The Pistons felt comfortable making the trade – which came together since Smith's departure – because both assistant coach Bob Beyer and pro scout Adam Glessner were with him last season in Charlotte. Tolliver averaged 6.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 20 games a game with the then-Bobcats before signing over the summer with Phoenix on a reported two-year, $6 million deal that calls for $400,000 to be guaranteed next season.

"We'll just have to see where it goes and how we fit the rotation together, but he's a really solid pro," Van Gundy said. "Another really high-character guy. Eventually we want to get to being able to spread the floor out more and more around Andre. He's a really good fit with a really good contract."​