Syracuse men’s basketball: Buddy Boeheim re-signs with Pistons, Elijah Hughes heads overseas

Two recent Syracuse Orange men’s basketball alumni - Buddy Boeheim and Elijah Hughes - secured roster spots over this summer to continue playing professional basketball.

Boeheim, who landed a roster spot with the Detroit Pistons after going undrafted in the 2022 NBA Draft, re-signed with the Pistons per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin on Monday night. Meanwhile, Elijah Hughes - the last Syracuse player to be selected in the NBA Draft - will play next season overseas in Turkey for Manisa.

Starting off with Boeheim, he’ll look to extend his young career in the NBA in Detroit, a team embracing a long-term rebuild that is in desperate need of some franchise centerpieces to build around.

Boeheim averaged 14.6 points on 41% shooting from the field and over 36% from three in his four years with the Orange. While his NBA stats (1.6 points per game on 19% shooting) were nothing notable, he did average over 12 points per game while shooting 37.4% from three in 18 games with Detroit’s G-League affiliate.

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Boeheim shined during this year’s NBA Summer League in Las Vegas with his outside shooting, something Detroit desperately needs to shore up considering the Pistons ranked bottom-ten in the league in three-point percentage (22nd) and offensive rating (28th).

James Edwards III of The Athletic confirmed that just like the 2022-2023 season, Boeheim’s contract was structured as an Exhibit 10 deal - meaning Boeheim landed a non-guaranteed one-year deal that can be converted into a two-way contract.

Boeheim will enter his age-24 season in the NBA and become the Orange’s most recent alumnus to land an NBA roster spot.

As for Hughes, he’ll look to continue his professional basketball career in Turkey after a brief stint in the NBA. Hughes was picked 39th overall in the 2020 NBA Draft - the highest a Syracuse player has been taken in the draft since Tyler Lydon in 2017 - by the New Orleans Pelicans before his draft rights were traded to the Utah Jazz.

He averaged 2.9 points per game on 33% shooting in 54 games during his two seasons in the NBA with the Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers in 2021 and 2022.

After starting his career off in East Carolina, Hughes broke out with the Orange and landed on the All-ACC First Team after averaging 19 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.4 assists during his junior year.

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He recently averaged nine points per contest for the Orlando Magic in this year’s summer league, but did manage to be productive this past NBA season with the Milwaukee Bucks’ G-League affiliate - averaging over 16 points and 4 rebounds per game on 42.6% shooting, nearly 36% from three and 85% on free throws this past season.