The Detroit Pistons made a move on Tuesday that brought Gary Harris back to Michigan and sent Caris LeVert out the door.
Detroit sent LeVert and a couple of draft picks to land Harris and Taurean Prince, a swap that also opened up cap space for the Pistons. It wasn’t the kind of headline-grabbing deal that changes a franchise overnight, especially with all three players now on the back end of their careers, but it did create a rare Spartan-for-Wolverine twist.
The Pistons were looking for shooting help, and Prince fits that need after knocking down more than 43 percent of his threes last season. Harris is the bigger name for Michigan State fans, even if his recent numbers have dipped hard.
With the Milwaukee Bucks in 2025-26, he averaged a career-low 2.7 points in 13.8 minutes per game, his second-lowest workload ever. He still hit about 41 percent from three, but his production has been sliding for four straight seasons.
That decline has been steady. After putting up 11.1 points per game in 2021-22, Harris fell to 8.3, then 6.9, then 3.0, and finally 2.7 in 2025-26.
Even so, Harris is only 31 and could still benefit from a fresh start. He’ll be 32 by the beginning of the 2026-27 season, and while another trade down the line is possible, Michigan State supporters who also root for the Pistons are already happy to see him back in Detroit.
Gary Harris’ career has been a roller-coaster
Harris entered the league with the Denver Nuggets and barely played as a rookie, but he quickly carved out a starting role and held it for the next six seasons. He was a regular in Denver’s lineup before being dealt to the Orlando Magic during the 2020-21 season.
His role changed in Orlando. He spent most of his time in the 25-30 minute range, then lost his starting job in 2023-24. Over the next two seasons with the Magic and Bucks, he appeared in 96 total games and started only five.
Injuries took a toll on what once looked like a promising career. Over the last two seasons, he became much more of a depth piece, playing around 14 minutes per game, which was 12 below his career average. He went from starting for a Western Conference contender to barely seeing the floor for a Bucks team that didn’t make the playoffs.
Now the Pistons are giving him another shot, and that’s the hope behind the deal. Harris may not be asked to carry a big load, but a new setting could help him find something closer to the player he was before the injuries and the decline.
For Spartan fans, the appeal is obvious: Harris is coming home, LeVert is gone, and Tom Gores is the one giving him the chance in Detroit.
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