The Pistons may have interest in Reggie Bullock

Free agency has taken a surprising turn for the Detroit Pistons, a familiar face may yet return as they’re rumored to be interested in Reggie Bullock.

Reggie Bullock hasn’t had a great offseason. The Detroit Pistons‘ free agent (along with Monta Ellis, then of the Indiana Pacers) was suspended for the first five games of the 2017-18 season for violating the NBA’s drug policy just a couple weeks before free agency began.

As free agency approached, the Pistons declined their right to offer Bullock a qualifying offer which would make him a restricted free agent and give them the right to match any offer sheet and thus retain his services. This means he became an unrestricted free agent when free agency began on July 1st, and the Pistons didn’t have match rights as a result.

This might lead you to believe the organization didn’t have interest in retaining him, but a report out of Minneapolis suggests the Pistons may yet be in pursuit of Bullock’s services after clearing future salary when renouncing their rights to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Bullock could never put together an extended stretch of impact on the court over the course of his three seasons with the Pistons. Staying healthy was always a problem for him, especially last season where he missed large chunks of time with back spasms and a torn meniscus.

In theory at least, Bullock brings desirable elements to the table for any team seeking him out. In his 31 games last year, he was the Pistons’ best three-point shooter, hitting 38.4 percent of his attempts from behind the arc. He took almost 60 percent of his field goal attempts from long range, and he was a positive defender.

Bullock can play either the two or the three and played 93 percent of his minutes at shooting guard last season. This season the Pistons have addressed their depth concerns at shooting guard, bringing Avery Bradley, Luke Kennard and Langston Galloway aboard and losing Darrun Hilliard and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, but he could plug in at the small forward spot behind Tobias Harris and Stanley Johnson.

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While the Pistons now have more depth concerns at power forward than small forward, Bullock could fill defensive and shooting needs admirably. The Pistons don’t have match rights, but they do have his Bird rights which means they can go over the cap to sign him (but not over the luxury tax apron because they’re hard capped).