The Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons got deeper Tuesday by acquiring Kevin Huerter from the Chicago Bulls as the centerpiece of a four-player, three-team deal.
The Pistons got Huerter and Dario Saric — who was just acquired over the weekend by Chicago — from the Bulls. Chicago landed Mike Conley Jr. from Minnesota and Jaden Ivey from the Pistons.
Huerter is having one of the most well-rounded seasons of his career and joins a Detroit team aiming for a deep playoff run in the East. The Pistons don't shoot many 3-pointers — they were 27th in attempts and 28th in attempts per game entering Tuesday — but that could change with Huerter joining a group that features constant deep threat Duncan Robinson, among others.
Ivey spent parts of four seasons with the Pistons. He was dealing with the aftereffects of knee surgery entering the season and was averaging a career-low 8.2 points while getting only 16.8 minutes per game, another career low.
Conley's departure from Minnesota would come with one benefit for the Timberwolves — their tax bill. Facing an estimated $24 million bill entering Tuesday, the Conley move dropped the anticipated total to somewhere around $4 million and got them below the first apron.
That could open the door to other moves for Minnesota, which has been mentioned as one of the teams in pursuit of Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Huerter is averaging nearly 11 points this season and is set to become a free agent this summer.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Dallas Mavericks forward P.J. Washington (25) and Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley (10) scramble on the floor for a loose ball in the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Chicago Bulls guard Kevin Huerter (13) celebrates with forward Matas Buzelis and forward Dalen Terry, back, after he scores the game winning three-point basket over the Boston Celtics during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Matt Marton)
Chicago Bulls guard Kevin Huerter gets doused with water after an NBA basketball game against the Boston Celtics, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Chicago. Huerter scored the game winning three-point basket. (AP Photo/Matt Marton)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A new Tennessee law has eased up on two longstanding financial hurdles for people with felony sentences who want their voting rights back, including a unique requirement among states that they must have fully paid their child support costs.
The Republican-supermajority Legislature approved the Democratic-sponsored change, which now lets people prove they have complied for the last year with child support orders, such as payment plans. The legislation also unties the payment of all court costs from voting rights restoration.
Advocates for years have sought various changes to Tennessee’s voting rights restoration system at the statehouse and in court. They say loosening these two rules marks the biggest rollback of restrictions to voting rights restoration in decades.
“This is huge and this is history,” said Keeda Haynes, senior attorney for the advocacy group Free Hearts led by formerly incarcerated women like her.
Most Republicans voted for it and Democrats supported it unanimously. The law took effect immediately upon Republican Gov. Bill Lee's signature last week.
“I think people are at a point where they want to just remove the barriers out of the way and allow people to be fully functional members of society,” said Democratic House Minority Leader Karen Camper, a bill sponsor.
In 2023 and early 2024, the state decided that the system did require going to court or showing proof of a pardon, not just a paperwork process, and that gun rights were required to restore the right to vote. Election officials said a court ruling made the changes necessary, though voting rights advocates said officials misinterpreted the order.
Last year, lawmakers untangled voting and gun rights. But voting rights advocates opposed some of the bill's other provisions, such as keeping the process in the courts, where costs can rack up if someone isn't ruled indigent.
Easing up on the financial requirements uncommonly split legislative Republicans. For instance, Senate Speaker Randy McNally voted against it, while House Speaker Cameron Sexton supported it, noting that people aren't getting forgiveness on making their payments.
“They need to continue paying that, and as long as they do, then there’s a possibility (to restore their voting rights)," Sexton said. "I really think that’s harder for people to argue against than maybe what something else was.”
Republican Rep. Johnny Garrett, who voted no, said in committee his vote would hinge on whether “there still can be an (child support) arrearage owed beyond that 12 months.”
For some, backed-up child support payments could reach hundreds or thousands of dollars, and court costs could be hundreds or thousands more, said Gicola Lane, Campaign Legal Center's Restore Your Vote community partnership senior manager.
Advocates credited their narrowed focus, omitting goals such as automatic restoration of rights, no longer tying restitution payments to voting rights, or offering a path for certain people to restore their right who are permanently disenfranchised, including those convicted of voter fraud or most murder charges.
The bill passed the Senate last year and the House this year.
Lawmakers gave the child support requirement final passage in 2006 within an overhaul bill that also created a voting rights restoration process outside of court. Critics said the child support rule penalized impoverished parents.
Democrats were then narrowly hanging onto legislative leadership in both chambers. Republicans held a slim Senate majority but GOP defectors voted for a Democratic speaker.
Last year marked the dismissal of a nearly five-year-old federal lawsuit over Tennessee’s voting-rights restoration system. Free Hearts and the Campaign Legal Center represented plaintiffs in the long-delayed case, which saw some election policy changes along the way.
Roughly 184,000 people have completed supervision for felonies and their offenses don't preclude them from restoring their voting rights, according to a plaintiffs expert’s 2023 estimate in the lawsuit. About one in 10 were estimated to have outstanding child support payments, and more than six in 10 owed court courts, restitution or both, the expert said.
Both Republican and Democratic-led states have eased the voting rights restoration process in recent years. Some states have added complexities.
In Florida, after voters approved a constitutional amendment in 2018 restoring the right to vote for people with felony convictions, the Republican-controlled Legislature watered that down by requiring payment of fines, fees and court costs.
Voting rights are automatically restored upon release in nearly half of states. In 15 others, it occurs after parole, probation or a similar period and sometimes requires paying outstanding court costs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In Maine and Vermont, people with felonies keep their voting rights in prison, the NCSL says.
Ten other states including Tennessee require additional government action. Virginia ’s governor must intervene to restore voting rights of people convicted of felonies. In some states, including Tennessee, certain conviction types render someone ineligible.
However, Virginia lawmakers this year have passed a proposed state constitutional amendment to ask voters whether they want automatic voting rights restoration after someone is released from prison. Kentucky lawmakers have proposed a similar change for voters' consideration that would automatically restore voting rights after certain completed sentences, including probation.
FILE - The Tennessee Capitol is seen, Jan. 22, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
