5 steps to drawing a major free agent to the Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons need to win some playoff games

I am not asking a 20-win team to turn it around and compete in the Eastern Conference Championship. But no star is going to opt to participate in a rebuild, so the Pistons need to prove that they aren’t a joke in the NBA. In 2022 and 2023, Detroit needs to at least push a series to six or seven games, maybe even make it out of the first round.

Once Detroit actually proves they are on the come-up by winning games, stars will want to take the easier route and sign. Detroit doesn’t even have to win a series, just push a really good team to a competitive win. Maybe lose to the Bucks in six, but have a game or two where Giannis gives up a 30 point game to his man. Maybe push the 76ers to seven, but have Isaiah Stewart hold Embiid to 12 points and four rebounds one night.

Just as long as they aren’t cellar-dwellers and make the playoffs interesting, they can make a name for themselves

Wait Until 2023, at Least

By then, the Pistons should have a massive amount of cap space, especially if they re-sign Grant to a team-friendly contract. By then, Bradley Beal will be a free agent. He’ll be 30, tired of playing in Washington, and is a member of Team USA so Jerami Grant might be able to convince him to sign.

Joel Embiid will only be 29, and after the Ben Simmons debacle, he may want a change of scenery, especially if he continues falling flat in the postseason. If the Pistons wait until 2024, Pascal Siakam, Karl-Anthony Towns, Domantas Sabonis, and Devin Booker will all be able to sign elsewhere.

2023 or 2024 sounds like a long time to wait, but as early as next season the Detroit Pistons could be battling it out in the play-in games, if not the playoffs. There will be plenty of enticing basketball in the Motor City until then, and by the middle of this decade, Detroit could be home to a superteam, most of which was homegrown.