Detroit Pistons: 3 “buy low” candidates for free agency

Emmanuel Mudiay

When Emmanuel Mudiay was first signed by the Utah Jazz last summer, it was a head scratcher to many. But, with a limited number of cheap point guard options at the time, the assumption was that Mudiay would be Utah’s fail safe in the event of an injury.

Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened. Dante Exum was sidelined for the first few weeks of the season and Mudiay stepped in. Averaging 10.0 points and 3.0 assists on 50.0 percent shooting (all whole numbers, weird) in his first eight games of the season, he was making his presence felt.

Though he tends to go cold or be completely absent all together with his scoring, his court vision seemed to be on a slight incline as the season progressed. He may be plateauing as a facilitator, but he could be a reliable second or third option.

He’s not afraid to push the pace, which could be good for Detroit given the quickness that they have on their roster. He’s never been someone to draw a lot of contact though, which is one of the things that makes Derrick Rose so great.

At the end of the day what Mudiay showed us this season was that he may not be a finished product. He has trouble staying in front of his man on defense and is often turnover prone.

However, if the Pistons hold true to their “draft the best available player” theory, and that happens to not be a point guard, Mudiay could be a relatively safe backup option.