DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons announced today that the team has signed free agents Kelly Olynyk, Trey Lyles and restricted free agent Saben Lee. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.
Olynyk, 6-11, 240, enters his ninth season in 2021-22. A former No. 13 pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Olynyk spent the 2020-21 season with the Miami Heat and the Houston Rockets, playing in 70 regular-season games averaging 13.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.9 assists in 28.5 minutes. He scored 10-plus points 26 times while playing the Rockets and totaled 11 double-doubles.
Before being traded to Houston last season, Olynyk spent four seasons with the Miami Heat from 2017-20, playing 265 games averaging 10.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists in 22.8 minutes. Olynyk scored a career-high 32 points against the Celtics on December 20, 2017, and twice has scored a career-high 26 points in the playoffs. Olynyk began his NBA career in Boston from 2013-17, playing in 278 games averaging 9.5 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 20.7 minutes. Olynyk was named to the All-Rookie 2nd team in 2013-14.
As a collegian, Olynyk spent three years at Gonzaga from 2009-13—averaging 8.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 17.2 minutes while shooting .594 from the field. In 2012-13, Olynyk won the West Coast Conference Player of the Year Award, was a Wooden Award Finalist, and was a Consensus All-America 1st team finalist.
Lyles, 6-9, 234, arrives in Detroit after spending the last two seasons with the San Antonio Spurs. He appeared in 23 games in 2020-21, averaging 5.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 0.6 assists in 15.6 minutes while shooting .478 from the field. Lyles played in 63 regular-season games in 2019-20 and recorded clips of 6.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 20.2 minutes per contest.
Prior to his time in San Antonio, Lyles played for the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets. Lyles appeared in 151 games for the Jazz between 2015-17, averaging 6.1 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 0.8 assists while shooting .400 from the field. During his two seasons in Denver, Lyles played in 137 regular-season games between 2017-19, averaging 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 18.3 minutes while shooting .456 from the field. Lyles scored a career high 26 points against the Utah Jazz on January 5, 2018, while grabbing 11 rebounds and tallying 4 assists.
As a collegian, Lyles played one year at Kentucky during the 2014-15 season—averaging 8.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 23.0 minutes while shooting .488 from the field. Lyles made the ALL-SEC Freshman team and was a two-time winner of the SEC Freshman of the Week award.
Lee, 6-2, 183, enters his second season with the Pistons after coming off a rookie campaign where he appeared in 48 games—averaging 5.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 16.3 minutes while shooting .471 from the field in. Lee scored a season and career-high 22 points on November 5, 2021, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, shooting .778 from the field and going 8 for 8 from the foul line. He also totaled 4 rebounds and 5 assists in that game.
Prior to his rookie year in Detroit, Lee spent 3 seasons at Vanderbilt University. In that time, he appeared in 96 games averaging 13.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.7 assists while shooting .471 from the field. As a Junior, Lee was second-team ALL-ACC and led the team in scoring with 18.6 points per game. Lee scored a career-high 38 points against Alabama on March 3, 2020.