With the deadline looming for NBA teams to have their regular season roster set, the Detroit Pistons had several decisions they had to make.
According to ESPN’s Senior NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the Detroit Pistons have decided to waive Joe Johnson in order to alleviate the necessary roster space for Christian Wood.
The Pistons are waiving Joe Johnson, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 21, 2019
This sort of comes in as a surprise, as most had anticipated that Detroit would make a trade, dealing either Khyri Thomas, Thon Maker or Langston Galloway in order to keep both Johnson and Wood. However, it’s clear that after the Pistons reportedly shopped Thomas, they decided their best option was to cut Johnson.
Hearing a handful of PG needy teams have reached out the Detroit Pistons about Khyri Thomas. The Pistons are looking at trade options vs eating any extra money on the cap this year and next.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) October 20, 2019
Johnson’s time in Detroit has officially ended, after a remarkable championship and MVP run in the amatuer Big3 league, the Pistons decided to bring the former All-Star in for a workout and eventually signed him.
After seeing inconsistent minutes in the preseason, and never really standing out from the rest of the pack (other than his end of game performance against Cleveland) this may have been an easy decision for the Pistons front office.
Ultimately, the individual impact of Wood is far greater and more essential to the team than it is for Johnson. The Pistons desperately needed a backup center, but their forward rotation is already pretty clogged.
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There’s a pretty substantial chance that an NBA team could give Johnson another shot, as he can clearly still be productive, however he just wasn’t a good fit in Detroit. There will always be a place in the NBA for players who can get a bucket whenever they’re asked, and that’s what Johnson is.
Pistons fans should read into this move further than what’s on the surface. Detroit’s front office is continuing to make calculated moves in order to better the team. Whether it’s refusing to mortgage the team’s future by trading away or waving young assets, or what they did this summer in free agency by making the team marginally better than they were a season ago with incredibly limited money.
Christian Wood will finally make this roster.