Isaiah Stewart shared some honesty in a sitdown interview with Marc Spears of ESPN/Andscape.
Stewart, who was traded from the Detroit Pistons on draft night June 24 for three second-round picks to the Memphis Grizzlies, was blunt about the past year with the team that drafted him No. 16 overall in 2020.
"That series didn't go good," Stewart said of the seven-game conference semifinals loss to Cleveland. "I didn't play as much. I just knew it was my last game as a Piston."
Stewart was a big part of the Pistons' turnaround from the worst team in the NBA from 2020-23 to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26.
Spears asked at what point Stewart thought he "might not be in Detroit forever."
"I would say this past season," Stewart said. "I was
in a situation where you would work so hard and you have a goal and you're putting your all into something, and you're not able to reap that kind of reward, it'd make you question yourself, stress yourself out because you know the passion, the love you have for the game. That's when me and my wife were just talking and we both felt that this may be our last season here in Detroit."
Stewart said his agent thought he might get traded to the Washington Wizards or the Los Angeles Lakers, but that Trajan Langdon told Stewart's agent he got an offer from Memphis that he couldn't refuse. The Pistons received the same three second-round picks they had dealt to Memphis the night before in order to trade up from No. 21 to No. 17 in the first round to draft Stanford point guard Ebuka Okorie.
Stewart said his emotions were just thankful to be somewhere he's really wanted and fanbase that is already showing him love and respect.
"I'd rather be where I'm wanted than headed back into a situation where it's not the best."
It's unclear exactly what Stewart is referring to, but his playing time decreased under new coach J.B. Bickerstaff to 19.9 minutes per game in 2024-25 and ticked up to 22.7 minutes last season. He averaged 26 minutes per game in his first four seasons.
However, Stewart played just 11.8 minutes per game in 14 playoffs games this past spring, averaging four points, 2.4 rebounds and one block – that includes eight blocks in Game 4 of the first round.
Stewart was seen arguing with Bickerstaff during Game 3 of the Orlando series.
But Stewart's play fell off drastically after that game, and he was surpassed a handful of times – as was starting center Jalen Duren – by third-stringer Paul Reed.
Stewart said he had so much genuine love for the city of Detroit and takes pride in bringing an identity, toughness and winning back to the Pistons.
Stewart seemed genuine in his excitement to join the rebuilding Grizzlies, who just selected Cam Boozer at No. 3 overall in June.
"I'm excited, it's a great opportunity," Stewart said. "It's a lot of hungry young guys over there. I look forward to just doing everything I can to help this rebuild."
Stewart is owed $15 million this season, with a team option for $15 million in 2027-28 to complete the four-year, $60 million contract he signed with the Pistons in July 2023.
For now, Reed is the Pistons' starting center, with Duren and the franchise in a contract standoff two months before the start of the regular season.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Isaiah Stewart takes parting shot at Pistons, 'not the best situation'
