Pistons sign Isaiah Stewart to team's first rookie extension since 2008 on $64 million deal, per report

Stewart is the first Piston since 2008 to receive a rookie extension

The Detroit Pistons have re-signed Isaiah Stewart to a four-year, $64 million rookie extension, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. James L. Edwards reports that the fourth season on the deal is a team option and that there are incentives within the contract. Stewart's contract ends one of the NBA's more ignominious streaks.

Stewart is the first player the Pistons have signed to a rookie extension since 2008, when they inked Jason Maxiell to a second contract. He isn't technically the only Piston in that span to have been retained beyond his rookie deal, as 2011 draft pick Andre Drummond re-signed as a restricted free agent, but a team's record of inking rookie extensions is typically a strong barometer of how well they've drafted. If a team wants to bring back its picks beyond their initial contract, it stands to reason that those picks have played fairly well.

Prior to Stewart, the Pistons simply didn't pick many players worthy of extending. Since 2008, most of Detroit's picks have either failed as Pistons or suffered too many injuries to grow into consistent veterans. Players that did eventually become reliable, starting-caliber players largely did so outside of Detroit. Since 2008, the Pistons have drafted and proceeded to either trade or lose Brandon Knight, Khris Middleton, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Luke Kennard and Bruce Brown. Now, however, they've built a young core that they seem likely to keep together for the foreseeable future.

As long as that 15-year streak might seem, the NBA has experienced far longer ones. Last summer, the Knicks re-signed Mitchell Robinson and RJ Barrett. In doing so, they became the first Knicks draft picks since Charlie Ward in 1994 to earn a second contract. The Pistons have the NBA's third-worst record since their streak began. The Knicks had the NBA's worst record during its streak.

Stewart's long-term fit in Detroit is somewhat conditional upon the rest of the roster. The Pistons have loaded their roster with several highly drafted big men, including James Wiseman, Marvin Bagley and Jalen Duren. While Stewart took over four 3-pointers per game last season, he made less than 33% of them. The Pistons have largely used two big men in recent years, but for the most part, doing so when none of them are reliable 3-point shooters tends to prove problematic for offenses. If the Pistons are going to move forward with Stewart as a power forward instead of a center, they'll need him to start making more 3's... or they'll need to move some of their other big men.