With the 2020-2021 NBA regular season finally completed, the Detroit Pistons and nine other teams can now officially start looking toward their offseason moves, with four more teams set to join them following the NBA’s play-in tournament.
As these teams enter their offseason, they will have to begin considering what to do with their pending free agents.
The Detroit Pistons are entering this NBA offseason with five contracts that expired with the end of the season.
Two of those contracts belong to two-way standouts in third-year guard Frank Jackson and rookie guard Saben Lee. The other three contracts belong to veteran sharpshooter Wayne Ellington, 2016 top 10 draft pick Dennis Smith Jr, and the super-athletic 22-year-old Hamidou Diallo.
With four draft picks in the upcoming 2021 NBA Draft, and free agency beginning right after that, the Pistons will have hard decisions to make on which players they will want to retain this offseason.
That being said, three of the Pistons’ four draft picks come in the second round this year, and there is a strong possibility one or two of those second-rounders get traded.
It is unclear at this point just how many roster spots Detroit will have open after the draft. However, it is never too early to speculate which players they will look to re-sign, and which players they will move on from this offseason.
Here is a look at the five Detroit Pistons who the organization will have to make a decision on whether to sign for a new contract or wave bye-bye to:
Detroit Pistons should led Wayne Ellington go
After struggling in his one season with the New York Knicks, Wayne Ellington returned to Detroit for his second stint with the team.
The former North Carolina Tar Heel had his worst shooting season with the Knicks since the 2011-2012 season. Ellington posted 5.1 points per game while shooting 35 percent from three-point range in 36 appearances during his short tenure with the Knicks.
In his return to the Pistons, the shooting guard has had a bounce back season as he has put up 9.6 points per game while shooting 42.2 percent from three. Ellington has started 31 of his 46 games this season and averaged 22 minutes a night.
Despite having a solid season this year, it would be mutually beneficial for both Ellington and the Pistons to part ways this offseason. For Ellington, his superb shooting numbers this season have likely garnered him a contract with a contending team next year. As for the Pistons, Ellington will turn 34 next season.
The Pistons are in the midst of their rebuild. While a 34-year-old Ellington could provide good mentorship to the young players on the roster, he would ultimately restrict the playing time of the players Detroit is trying to develop. It’s in the best interest of both parties to move on this offseason.
Hamidou Diallo: Detroit Pistons Re-sign
The Detroit Pistons did not trade for Hamidou Diallo midseason just to let him walk in free agency. The 22-year-old wing out of Kentucky is super athletic and perfectly fits the timeline of this rebuild.
Diallo spent the previous two seasons as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder where he was able to show off his athleticism driving to the basket but struggled to be an effective outside scorer. Diallo shot 24.7 percent from beyond the arc in his first two seasons in the league.
In Detroit, Diallo has shown some promise as a shooter on the perimeter. In 19 games with the Pistons, the 6-5 wing shot 39.5 percent from three on two attempts per night. While this is hardly the sample size that would conclusively say he can become a good three-point shooter, these numbers indicate that Diallo can make his threes when he finds good shots.
Diallo’s potential is too intriguing for the Pistons to allow him to walk in free agency.
In 22.9 minutes a night, Diallo has shown that he can get to the bucket and score, grab rebounds as a guard, he averages five rebounds with the Pistons, and has the potential to be a respectable three-point shooter. That is important.
He probably will not become a star, but Diallo is a great piece to have on this roster and could one day be a high-end role player.
Dennis Smith Jr: Detroit Pistons Let Go
Unlike with Hamidou Diallo, acquiring Dennis Smith Jr. via midseason trade does not indicate the team planned on re-signing him this offseason.
The 23-year-old point guard showed promise at the beginning of his career, but that promise has since tapered off as the years progressed. Before the Pistons acquired Smith Jr. from the Knicks, he had only made three appearances in the season, and was getting ready to join their G-League team.
As a member of the Pistons, Smith Jr. played in 20 games and started in nine of those. The point guard’s best game with Detroit came in a three-point loss to the Sacramento Kings, in which he put up 17 points and six assists. That night Smith Jr. shot 53.8 percent from the floor and knocked down two of his five three-point attempts.
In the following 11 games he played in, Smith Jr. was only been able to put up 10 or more points twice. Smith Jr. has struggled with consistency and shooting efficiency his entire career, and that has been no different in Detroit. This season with Detroit, the point guard averaged 7.3 points and 3.7 assists per game.
However, he has only managed to make 41.5 percent of his shots and 35.2 percent of his threes. If you include his three games with the Knicks this season, Smith Jr.’s percentages drop to 40 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from three.
The Pistons also look to have a crowded point guard rotation heading into the 2021-2022 season. Killian Hayes and Cory Joseph are currently under contract next year (Joseph only partially guaranteed).
Saben Lee, who was on a two-way contract, is also likely to return to Detroit with a new full NBA contract. Not to mention the team is hoping to win the lottery and land Cade Cunningham in the upcoming draft.
Even without Cunningham or Joseph, who could be cut this offseason, when it comes to the Pistons’ point guard situation, Smith Jr. will likely find himself as the odd man out heading into free agency.
Saben Lee: Detroit Pistons Re-sign
The 38th overall pick in the 2020 NBA draft showed a lot of promise this season as a member of the Detroit Pistons. Lee averaged 5.6 points and 3.6 assists on 16 minutes a night this season. As a developmental player, Lee has the potential to be a long-term backup point guard for this Pistons team.
When Lee is on the floor, he assists on 33 percent of his teammates’ made field goals. That number is higher than Killian Hayes who assists 30.3 percent of his teammates’ field goals while on the court.
The 21-year-old Lee will likely be the first player the Pistons look to re-sign this offseason. He’s a young building block for this rebuilding franchise, and Lee will have the opportunity to fill a major role on the team, as he develops in the next few seasons.
Frank Jackson: Detroit Pistons Re-sign (For the right price)
Frank Jackson is having the best season of his young career in Detroit.
The third-year guard has made the move to playing off-ball this season after being pigeonholed a a point guard due to his size in his other stops.
He has seen not only his scoring go up, but his efficiency as well. The guard has been a key contributor coming off the bench for Detroit in the second half of this season.
The 23-year-old out of Duke has scored 9.8 points per game for the Pistons. Jackson shot 45.7 percent from the field and 40.7 percent from beyond the arc in his 40 games with Detroit.
Jackson’s shooting efficiency from three makes him an important player to bring back this offseason. The Pistons were ranked 22nd in the league in three-point shooting, and the team as a whole only made 35.2 percent of their three-point attempts this season.
If Detroit gets the right contract for Jackson this offseason, retaining him would be a no-brainer. However, teams are willing to pay a premium for shooters.
With the efficiency Jackson has shown this season, it would not be surprising to see another team offer Jackson more money than Detroit is willing to match during free agency.