Detroit Pistons: What does Weaver have planned for Pistons’ cap space?

The Detroit Pistons are waiving Cory Joesph, Tyler Cook and Deividas Sirvydis in an apparent attempt to free more cap space.

The move was reported by James Edwards III among others:

Joseph was not a surprise, as the Pistons traded for him specifically because his contract for next season was not fully guaranteed. His full $12.4 million would have become guaranteed soon, so this move wasn’t a shocker.

Cook was a little more surprising, although I think it was a good move, as the Pistons clearly need shooting and Cook provides none.

The surprising move was dumping Sirvydis, as he was under contract for two more seasons, so the Pistons will eat his $1.52 million to clear a roster spot but not be on the hook for the second year, which was not guaranteed.

How much cap space will the Detroit Pistons have?

According to John Hollinger, the Pistons could have as much as $22 million in cap space after this move depending on how they handle the remaining money.

This is more than originally projected, as the Pistons were able to Trade Mason Plumlee without taking back a contract, which cleared around 8 million.

It didn’t appear as if the Detroit Pistons would be players in free agency entering this offseason, as they still have Blake Griffin’s bloated contract on their books for one more season, but after some savvy dealing, Troy Weaver has managed to clear a significant chunk.

But what will the Detroit Pistons do with this cap space? They have a number of options ranging from the boring to the big splash.

Here are three options for the Pistons’ cap space that make sense.

The Detroit Pistons could use their cap space to re-sign their own guys and stay under the cap

The most boring option for the Pistons’ cap space is just to take care of their own free agents, possibly add one low-cost veteran and stay under the cap.

The Pistons made qualifying offers to Hamidou Diallo and Frank Jackson, which made them restricted free agents.

They are also likely to make an offer to Saben Lee, and these three would eat up a substantial portion of the Pistons’ cap space.

I tried to estimate Diallo’s salary using similar players and it was around $8 million per season, which seems about right.

Depending on what Jackson and Lee get, the Pistons will have used over half of their cap space before even making a decision on Dennis Smith Jr.

So it’s possible the Pistons could just sign their own guys and save some ammunition for later in the offseason or during next season, or they could sign all three of these guys and add another mid-tier free agent.

But the Detroit Pistons have other options.

The Detroit Pistons could use their cap space on a big free agent acquisition

If the Pistons wanted to let all of their free agents walk, they could pour the entirety of their cap space into one guy.

This seems unlikely to me, as the Pistons are not one guy away from winning a title and and have a team full of young players including Saddiq Bey, Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart and number one pick Cade Cunningham.

But Cunningham looks like a potential superstar, a guy who could move the needle for the Pistons and possibly get them near the playoffs if things go right.

The timeline was sped up and there is really no reason for the Pistons to wait if there is a guy who Troy Weaver thinks could be a good fit, especially when Griffin’s contract will be off the books after next season.

After seeing what the Atlanta Hawks were able to do this season, the Pistons might be next if they add the right guy.

Most of the names at the top of the free agent list seem like long shots for the Detroit Pistons, but there are other ways to get an impact player or grab future assets.

The Detroit Pistons could make a big trade

There will be teams looking to dump salary this offseason to clear their own cap space, and the Detroit Pistons could get involved.

The Pistons might be able to pick up a valuable asset by taking on the final year of a player’s big contract as Memphis recently did in their trade with New Orleans.

In exchange for absorbing Eric Bledsoe’s contract into their cap space, the Grizzlies were able to move up ten spots in the draft and grab an additional first round pick on top of it.

The Pistons could do something similar if they can find a team that needs to clear cap space and has a big expiring contract to unload.

This is a smart way to pick up future draft assets or possibly a young project player, especially in a season when the Pistons are not expected to contend with such a young roster.

The most likely move is that the Pistons re-sign their own guys, add a veteran shooter or point guard to the bench and stay under the cap, but they now have more options than it originally appeared.