Three under the radar free agents the Detroit Pistons should look at signing

The Detroit Pistons are going to need to shakeup their bench unit to improve next season. Here are three under the radar free agents they should look at signing.

The Detroit Pistons are going into free agency above the cap space. They have 112 million dollars in guaranteed contracts. With Ish Smith, Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington, and Zaza Pachulia expiring; plus the team option for Glenn Robinson III likely to be declined, they are left with only the mid-level exception and the bi-annual exception to play around with.

They have 9.2 million dollars to spend with their mid-level exception and 3.6 million with their bi-annual exception. That’s good enough to snag a couple of good rotational players. They will likely target a backup point guard; most notably Seth Curry.

But lets say they strike out on a couple of the better rotational players. Who should they look at bringing in for short-term cheap contracts?

• How about former Piston’ Anthony Tolliver? Anthony Tolliver has played on 9 NBA teams 13 seasons. His longest tenured season came with the Detroit Pistons. He played 203 games in a Pistons uniform and found most of his success  with the team. He averaged 7.3 points per game and 3.3 rebounds on 39.2 percent three-point shooting in 21 minutes a night. He was a good defender for the Pistons. And he stretched the floor nicely next to Andre Drummond. Not only was a good for the Pistons on the court. But he was a good locker room guy to have on the roster. In his most recent season with the Minnesota Timberwolves, he received inconsistent minutes throughout the year. The trade that sent Jimmy Butler to the 76ers in exchange for Robert Convington and Dario Saric, Tolliver’s minutes decreased. But as the season went on his minutes started to rise again. With Minnesota he averaged 5 points on 37.7 percent shooting from three in 16.6 minutes a night. The Timberwolves missed the playoffs and Tolliver will enter free agency. Tolliver was a fan favorite in Detroit. And admittedly, Tolliver loved Detroit just as much. He helped the community in his off-court time and gave the fans plenty of memories.

• Sharpshooting guard/wing Wesley Matthews. Wesley Matthews played with three NBA teams this season. Starting in Dallas for 44 games, he averaged 13.1 points per game and shot 6 threes a night on 38 percent shooting. Those are great stats for the 10 year sharpshooting veteran. But then a trade happened. Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr. was traded to Dallas for Dennis Smith Jr. and Wesley Matthews. Matthews would only play two games with the Knicks before being waived by the team. The team that would sign him off waivers would be the Indiana Pacers. Matthews would be an immediate impact with the loss of Victor Oladipo for Indiana. He averaged 10.9 points on 36.9 percent shooting for the Pacers. In the playoffs Matthews would struggle shooting the ball against Boston. But Matthews is a sharpshooting veteran at the wing position that could help the Pistons shooting woes. Pair him next to Luke Kennard and you have two deadly shooters on the court.
• Andre Drummond’s former UConn teammate Jeremy Lamb. Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond came into the league in the 2012 NBA Draft. After spending three seasons in Oklahoma with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Lamb was traded to Charlotte and eventually signed an extension to play the backup guard position behind Kemba Walker. Lamb had a career season with the Hornets this season. He averaged a career high 15.3 points per game, 5.5 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on 44 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from three. He started 55 games next to Kemba Walker. Overall the UConn guard averaged 10.2 points per game and 4.4 rebounds on 45.1 percent shooting. Lamb is a solid defender and could eventually develop an NBA average three-point shot. He’s only 26 years old and can help with the Pistons youth.

Hopefully the Detroit Pistons can snag one of these guys!