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What Can the Detroit Pistons Do in Free Agency?

By Richard Davisson

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 25: Jae Crowder #99 of the Utah Jazz in action during a game against the Phoenix Suns at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 25, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - MARCH 25: Jae Crowder #99 of the Utah Jazz in action during a game against the Phoenix Suns at Vivint Smart Home Arena on March 25, 2019 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images) /
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The Salary Cap Situation

The Pistons do not have cap space as they already have approximately $118.7 million of guaranteed money on the books for next year (assuming they pick up Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk’s non-guaranteed contract and sign Dombouya to his rookie-scale contract). This is well over the estimated $109 million salary cap for this upcoming year with no legitimate way to dip beneath it.

The Pistons rest just under $13.3 million under the estimated $132 million luxury tax that we can assume the Pistons will avoid barring an unforeseen trade that brings in an impact player.

The only available avenues the Pistons can use to improve the team in free agency are with salary cap exceptions such as the non-taxpayer mid-level (MLE), the bi-annual exception (BAE), and minimum exceptions.

The largest starting salary that a player can receive when signing for the MLE is $9.246 million. This exception can be split up to sign multiple players, and players who sign for the MLE can receive contracts up to four years in length.

The largest starting salary that a player can receive when signing for the BAE is $3.619 million. This exception can be split up to sign multiple players, and players who sign for the MLE can receive contracts up to two years in length.

The MLE and BAE cannot be combined to sign a player.

Minimum salary players will most likely count approximately $1.619 million against the salary cap even though you may see reports of minimum guys signing for more. This gives incentive for teams to sign veterans to minimum deals over more inexperienced players.

Now that we have gotten the salary cap minutiae out-of-the-way, let’s take a look at a few possible free agency scenarios.