Detroit Pistons make their first splash in free agency

The Detroit Pistons made their first major move of free agency, signing combo guard Langston Galloway to a three year, $21 million contract, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Langston Galloway is a 6’2 point guard, who has the ability to play shooting guard as well. While he shot 39 percent from three last season, Galloway also has a reputation as a solid defender, despite his size. He’ll likely pick up most of the minutes vacated by Reggie Bullock, Darrun Hilliard and Beno Udrih as a third point guard and backup shooting guard, depending on how Detroit Pistons’ head coach Stan Van Gundy decides to develop his newest first round pick, Luke Kennard.

Galloway has played three years in the NBA for the New York Knicks, New Orleans Pelicans and Sacramento Kings, accruing career averages of 8.7 points, 2.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.3 threes over nearly 25 minutes a game. His career 36.6 three point percentage is higher than that of any current Pistons player, another sign of Van Gundy’s desire to upgrade his teams’ shooting and defense for the second straight offseason.

By signing Galloway and Ish Smith to affordable contracts instead of splurging on bigger names, Van Gundy has likely solidified his backup guard situation for a combined $13 million a year. That’s just slightly over 13 percent of the 2017-18 NBA salary cap and would not only represent good value for Detroit, but also gives them more flexibility in regards to Kentavious Caldwell Pope’s ongoing restricted free agency. The Pistons will most likely match any offer for him, but they’ll also relish having as many options at their disposal as possible.

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In fact, if the Pistons want to re-sign Caldwell-Pope they will need to shed salary, as signing him to a max contract would put them over the hard cap.