National Basketball Association (NBA) (2009–2015) Daye was drafted by the
Detroit Pistons of the
National Basketball Association (NBA) with the 15th overall pick in the
2009 NBA draft. On August 7, 2009, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Pistons. On January 30, 2013, Daye and
Tayshaun Prince were traded to the
Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for
José Calderón as part of a three-way deal that landed
Rudy Gay in Toronto. At that time, Steve von Horn of SBNation.com wrote that Daye "came into the league with the physical tools to become a versatile contributor on both ends of the floor, but his virtues never quite materialized". On August 1, 2013, Daye signed with the
Toronto Raptors. On February 20, 2014, Daye was traded to the
San Antonio Spurs in exchange for
Nando de Colo. Daye won a championship ring as a member of the Spurs, who defeated the
Miami Heat 4–1 in the
NBA Finals. Daye played only six minutes during the 2014 postseason and did not score. On January 10, 2015, Daye tallied 22 points and 10 rebounds to help the Spurs defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 108–93. A week later, he was waived by the Spurs. On March 15, 2015, Daye signed a 10-day contract with the
Atlanta Hawks. He then signed a second 10-day contract with the Hawks on March 25, and a multi-year contract on April 4. On July 9, 2015, he was waived by the Hawks. On September 28, 2015, Daye signed with the
Cleveland Cavaliers. However, he was waived on October 23 after appearing in six preseason games.
Other professional basketball experience Russian Professional Basketball League (2011) On September 23, 2011, Daye signed a two-month contract with
Khimki of the
Russian Professional Basketball League. In December 2011, he returned to the Detroit Pistons following the conclusion of the
2011 NBA lockout.
NBA Development League (2014, 2015) On March 15, 2014, Daye was assigned by the San Antonio Spurs to the
Austin Toros of the
NBA Development League. He was recalled the next day after having played one game with the team. On February 16, 2015, Daye was acquired by the
Erie BayHawks. He played 10 games with the team. In 21 games for the club in 2015–16, he averaged 21.2 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.1 blocks and was selected to the Italian Serie A All-Star Game.
Bahraini Premier League (2016) On May 6, 2016, Daye signed with
Manama Club of the
Bahraini Premier League for the 2016 GCC Basketball Clubs Championship.
The Basketball Tournament (TBT) (2016, 2017) In the summers of 2016, and 2017, Daye played in
The Basketball Tournament on
ESPN for Team Challenge ALS. He competed for the $2 million prize in 2017, and for Team Challenge ALS, he averaged 13.3 points per game, also shooting 77 percent from the free-throw line. Daye helped take the sixth-seeded Team Challenge ALS to the Championship Game of the tournament, where they lost in a close game to Overseas Elite 86–83.
Galatasaray Odeabank (2016–2017) On June 30, 2016, Daye signed with
Galatasaray Odeabank of Turkey for the 2016–17 season.
Hapoel Jerusalem (2017–2018) On August 9, 2017, Daye signed with the Israeli club
Hapoel Jerusalem for the 2017–18 season. However, on January 3, 2018, Daye parted ways with Jerusalem after appearing in 19 games (both in the
EuroCup and the
Israeli Premier League competitions) and averaged 10.9 points and 3.7 rebounds per game.
Lega Basket Serie A (2018–2022) On January 29, 2018, Daye returned to Italy for a second stint, signing with
Umana Reyer Venezia for the rest of the season. On May 2, Daye won the
FIBA Europe Cup championship with Reyer. He signed a two-year extension with the team on July 6, 2018. In the 2018–19 season, Daye won his first
Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) championship with Reyer. After winning the final series 4–3 over
Dinamo Sassari, Daye was named
LBA Finals MVP. On February 16, 2020, Daye won his first
Italian Cup with Reyer Venezia. He was named MVP of the competition. In June 2020, Daye signed a multiyear contract with Reyer Venezia. The contract extends through the 2022–23 season.
New Taipei Kings (2022–2023) On November 16, 2022, it was announced that the
New Taipei Kings of the
P. League+ had signed with Daye.
Victoria Libertas Pesaro (2023) On March 8, 2023, Daye signed with
Victoria Libertas Pesaro of the Italian
Lega Basket Serie A (LBA).
New Taipei Kings (2024–present) On July 29, 2024, Daye had re-signed with the
New Taipei Kings of the
Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL). On August 14, 2025, Daye re-signed with the
New Taipei Kings of the
Taiwan Professional Basketball League (TPBL). On October 5, Daye announced that he would retire at the end of the
2025–26 season. ==Career statistics==