Murray Waived

That creates a roster opening that is expected to be filled by the signing of veteran center Dale Davis, who played for the Pistons in 2005-06 and 2006-07. Davis became a free agent last July and has not played since. When the Pistons won at Atlanta last week, Davis attended the game – he’s a Georgia native – and visited the Pistons’ locker room, talking to Dumars at the time.

Murray averaged 7.5 points and 3.4 assists in 19 games for the Pistons this season, starting three games in November when Chauncey Billups was nursing hip and knee injuries. Murray eventually was passed over in the rotation by rookie first-round draft choices Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo. With Lindsey Hunter stashed on the inactive list but due to work his way back into the rotation sometime in March in preparation for his role as a niche defensive player in the playoffs, Murray got squeezed out.

Dixon will provide the Pistons better perimeter shooting and superior defense to Murray while giving them a veteran alternative on a young second unit that sometimes struggles to score. A six-year veteran, Dixon averaged 4.3 points in 12 minutes a game for Toronto, shooting .436 from the 3-point line. His best NBA season came two years ago for Portland when he averaged 12.3 points a game.

The Pistons signed Murray to a two-year contract following the 2006 season. He averaged 6.7 points in 69 games for the Pistons last season.