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According to a report from the Detroit News, former Oregon State forward Eric Moreland will suit up for the Detroit Pistons in the Orlando Summer League. The league, which takes place at the Amway Center practice court from July 1st-July 6th, consists of 8 teams from around the NBA (Charlotte, Dallas, Detroit, Indiana, Miami, New York, Oklahoma City, Orlando), who will showcase each organizations’ hand-picked roster of rookies, D-League talents, un-drafted players and notable free agents. The games will be broadcast live on NBA TV.
After leaving Corvallis in 2014, Moreland has spent time bouncing around the NBA and NBA D-League, in a professional career that has been off-set by some untimely injuries. In July of 2014, the 6’ 10”, 240-pound forward signed with the Sacramento Kings and spent most of the 2014-2015 season splitting time between the Kings and the D-League’s Reno Bighorns, before a labral tear ended his season early. The 2015-2016 campaign then ended in similar fashion for Moreland, who fractured his foot in December and never recovered in time to fully impress the Sacramento franchise. In the summer of 2016, Moreland was due for a change of scenery.
In September of 2016, that change came when Moreland signed on with the Cleveland Cavaliers, eventually landing with the NBA D-League’s Canton Charge. During his one season in Canton, Moreland became an NBA D-League Eastern Conference All-Star, finishing with yearly averages of 12.8 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.7 blocks in 44 games of action. He would help the Charge to the team’s 6th-ever play-off birth, which ended in a first round defeat to Raptors 905, the eventual NBA D-League Champions.
As a reigning NBA D-League All-Star, Moreland has a chance to not only impress the Pistons, but another NBA team, as a workhorse forward who can bring some toughness and versatility to the front-court of any NBA team. However, he’ll have to first find steady minutes in Orlando, on a forward-heavy Pistons line-up that features the likes of big men Will Davis II (UC Irvine), Henry Ellenson (Marquette), Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson (Temple), Markus Kennedy (SMU), Landry Nnoko (Clemson), Hollis Thompson (Georgetown), Mike Tobey (Virginia) and Derek Willis (Kentucky).
The first chance to see Moreland with his new Summer League crew will be on Saturday (July 1st) at 2 PM PT against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The rest of Detroit’s schedule for the Orlando NBA Summer Legaue can be found below.
- SUN - July 2nd | New York Knicks | 10 AM PT
- MON - July 3rd | OFF
- TUES - July 4th | Miami Heat | 10 AM PT
- WED - July 5th | Charlotte Hornets | 12 PM PT
- THURS - July 6th | TBA - CHAMPIONSHIP DAY