The Detroit Pistons reportedly extended qualifying offers to Frank Jackson and Hamidou Diallo.
It was first reported by our friend James Edwards III of the Athletic:
For a lot of fans, terminology like “qualifying offer” sounds like a foreign language, so I will try to give a simple explanation of what it means, and how it affects Frank Jackson, Hamidou Diallo and the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit Pistons: What is a qualifying offer in the NBA?
The qualifying offer is essentially an offer for a one-year contract that is based on the player’s production and years of service.
Teams have to make this offer in order for their own free agents to become restricted. If a team does not make a qualifying offer, then that player becomes an unrestricted free agent.
The qualifying offers for Hamidou Diallo and Frank Jackson project to be $2.1 million and $1.7 million according to Real GM.
If a player accepts the qualifying offer, then they will play out the one-year contract and become an unrestricted free agent when it is complete.
Detroit Pistons: How does this affect Frank Jackson and Hamidou Diallo’s future?
Since the Pistons made the qualifying offers, Jackson and Diallo will become restricted free agents, which means the Pistons will have the opportunity to match any offer made by another team.
It’s unclear what the market for these two players will be, but I took a stab at Hamidou Diallo’s future contract and think it will be somewhere in the $8 million per season range.
Jackson should be cheaper and I expect he’ll end up getting half that at most.
If some other team really wants one of these two guys, then they might be able to make an offer the Detroit Pistons refuse to match, but I don’t see there being a huge market for either one, especially if the Pistons can get them taken care of early in free agency.
Most restricted free agents stay with their current team, so chances are that both Frank Jackson and Hamidou Diallo will be back with the Pistons next season.