Detroit Pistons waive former Alabama guard amid NBA cuts

With the NBA regular season schedule set to begin on Tuesday, teams are busy finalizing their rosters. After releasing 18 players on Wednesday, 19 more were waived on Thursday, including former Alabama guard Aaron Estrada.

The Detroit Pistons waived Estrada after he played in two preseason games and recorded 13 points, two assists and two steals.

Estrada signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Pistons as an undrafted rookie.

A contract in accordance with Appendix 10 is a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with a minimum salary. If the player is not selected to the NBA team’s roster, the contract contains a provision that pays the player a bonus of up to $77,500 if he spends at least 60 days with the team’s NBA Gatorade League affiliate.

The Pistons’ NBA G League affiliate is Motor City Cruise.

Alabama was Estrada’s fourth college. He played at Saint Peter’s in 2019-20, Oregon in 2020-21 and Hofstra in 2021-22 and 2022-23.

Estrada averaged 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals in 37 games with Alabama last season. Estrada led the Crimson Tide in assists and ranked second in points, rebounds and steals.

Estrada played for the Pistons in the NBA 2K25 Summer League in Las Vegas in July and averaged 5.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists in five games.

Estrada joins Charles Bediako, Kira Lewis Jr., Josh Primo and Alex Reese as Alabama alumni who have been waived by NBA teams since the start of the preseason.

Former Crimson Tide players who remain on the NBA roster include Brooklyn Nets center Noah Clowney, Sacramento Kings guard Keon Ellis, New Orleans Pelicans forward Keon Ellis, and Charlotte Hornets forward Herb Jones , Brandon Miller, and Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.