The Detroit Pistons have a few large contracts coming off the books in 2020. With the new NBA salary cap projections, here’s a look at their cap space.
The time to start preparing for the future is now.
The NBA has released the salary cap projections for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
The projected salary cap for 2020-21 is $116 million with the luxury tax threshold set at $141 million. Those numbers will jump up to $125/$151 million in the 2021-22 season.
With a relatively weak free agent class in 2020, many teams are eyeing the 2021 off season, when some of the game’s biggest stars will be up for grabs, including LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo . This is a crucial year for many teams, including the Detroit Pistons, whose decisions will dramatically affect their cap space moving forward.
In many ways this season will define the Pistons, as they will have to decide to continue to roll with what they have, blow it up or try to make some mid-season moves to put a new core around All NBA power forward Blake Griffin.
The Pistons could have a massive amount of money coming off the books in 2020, but the problem is there isn’t much to spend it on other than retaining their own potential free agent Andre Drummond, who has a player option for 2020-21.
Reggie Jackson, Langston Galloway, Thon Maker, Tim Frazier and Christian Wood are set to become unrestricted free agents, which could leave Detroit with healthy cap space, even if they re-sign Drummond. Griffin has a player option for the 2021-22 season, so Detroit has two more seasons before the Alpha Ginger can decide to take his talents elsewhere.
Ed Stefanski and the Detroit Pistons will have a lot of tough decisions to make this season and beyond, decisions which will set the organization’s strategy and philosophy.
With Josh Smith finally coming off the books, the Pistons are projected to have just over $102 million committed to the 2020-21 season. This would leave the Pistons with roughly $14 million in cap space, but this could change drastically depending on many factors.
Drummond, Tony Snell, and Markieff Morris all have player options for 2020-21. Obviously, the big question is Drummond, whose 2020-21 salary is set at $28.8 million.
Drummond could choose to decline and test free agency, or the Pistons could potentially re-sign him to an extension. Drummond could also opt in, play out the season, collect his $28 million and become an unrestricted free agent in 2021. Both Drummond and the Pistons have a lot to think about.
The Pistons will have team options on Luke Kennard and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk who are both on modest contracts that Detroit will likely pick up. This leaves Griffin, Derrick Rose, Sekou Doumbouya, Bruce Brown and Khyri Thomas as the only Pistons with 2020-21 contracts that the player or team cannot terminate.
Given that the 2020 free agent class is so thin, players like Drummond, Snell and Morris might decide to test the waters and see if they can get more with other teams or try to extend their contracts with Detroit.
Snell will likely opt-in, as he is set to make just over $12 million, but if he has a breakout year he might decide to go for a longer contract with more security, either with the Pistons or another team. Same with Morris, who could play his way into a better deal in Detroit or elsewhere.
Even if all players accept their options, Detroit should still have enough cap space to find a point guard (possibly Jackson at a lower number) and round out their bench with the rest.
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Let’s say for a second that Drummond, Snell and Morris all reject their player options and go for free agency. This would leave Detroit with a whopping $44 million in cap space, but not much to spend it on.
This is the type of dangerous situation that led to the disastrous Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva contracts, which set Detroit back five years. The problem Detroit faces is whether they should hold onto their cap space for the 2021-22 bonanza, which would essentially mean giving up on 2020-21 and probably trading Griffin.
The 2019-20 season will determine the organizational path of the Detroit Pistons moving forward. Is it going to be more of the same or a whole new team?
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