Detroit Pistons: One low-cost free agent from every Western playoff team
The Detroit Pistons are not in the playoffs this season but they will be watching them closely.
The Pistons won’t have a ton of cap space to play around with this offseason, but there a number of low-cost free agents in the playoffs in both conferences.
We already took a look at the low-cost free agents in the Eastern Conference playoffs, so today we’ll head west to see if there are any free-agent fits for the Detroit Pistons.
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The Pistons are not going to be big players in free agency, so fans should probably lower their expectations if they think a superstar like Kawhi Leonard is coming to Detroit.
The Pistons will focus on their own free agents, adding impact talent in the draft and getting in-house improvements from their young players to develop this roster organically.
But Troy Weaver has shown an eye for undervalued talent and may be able to find some in the Western Conference playoffs.
Here is one potential low-cost free agent from each playoff team in the west.
Detroit Pistons: Free agents on the Memphis Grizzlies
The Grizzlies have just about every single player on their roster locked up for next season, so don’t have much to offer in the way of free agents. One guy the Pistons could try to steal would be rookie Killian Tillie, who was on a two-way contract with the Grizzlies and didn’t play much.
Tillie could potentially provide some of the shooting the Pistons desperately need but the Pistons would have to offer him a guaranteed contract to steal him away so that is probably not happening.
The Grizzlies have done a great job building their roster and the Pistons should be taking notes about how to make a successful small-market team.
NBA Free Agents: Talen Horton-Tucker, Los Angeles Lakers
Horton-Tucker is going to be an interesting free agent, as he will be restricted but his fate might depend on what happens to the Lakers in the playoffs. Win another title, and they will almost certainly bring him back as a way to keep some fresh talent in the pipeline.
Lose in the playoffs and the Lakers will try to reload with more veterans and stars, so Horton-Tucker might be a cap casualty. He is a guard with a long wingspan who hustles and defends well, so he’d fit right in on the Pistons, who are building their team around guys just like him.