Danny Granger not with Pistons yet, rehabbing foot injury in Phoenix

Danny Granger's career with the Detroit Pistons is off to an inauspicious beginning.

Acquired from the Phoenix Suns in what amounted to a salary dump in July - he had just picked up his $2.2-million player option for 2015-16 - Granger's future with the club seemed tenuous.

The Pistons have too many players and need to make two cuts, and Granger, a 32-year-old who has appeared in 76 games over the last three seasons due to injury, would make sense as one of them. But head coach and president Stan Van Gundy maintained that there was no guarantee Granger would be released, even with 17 players on guaranteed contracts.

With training camp set to begin next week, he could be getting off to a late start. Van Gundy told Pistons.com on Wednesday that Granger is still in Phoenix, rehabilitating a foot injury.

"When and if he's ready, we'll go from there," Van Gundy said.

That doesn't sound like a wildly optimistic evaluation of Granger's timeline for joining the team, and it could put him behind the other wings in the competition for roster spots. He may not mind getting cut, as it would free him to sign anywhere once healthy, but it's much harder to prove your health to potential suitors without the benefit of preseason action.

An All-Star in 2008-09, Granger established himself as one of the league's best two-way wings from 2008 to 2012, averaging 21.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists across five seasons. He's averaged 7.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists in the three years since, shooting 37.9 percent from the floor and struggling to stay in the lineup.