Cory Joseph a Detroit Piston sorta kinda
Reported free agent deal but not official
- Cory Joseph: 2 years,$10,000,000 contract with the Detroit Pistons
We have the confirmation of such a deal from a reliable source, Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports.
Yahoo Sources: Detroit Pistons to add veteran to roster with an agreement from free agent Cory Joseph. https://t.co/0hORmXBzGT
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) August 3, 2021
Haynes said he received the information from Joseph’s agent, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, so that is pretty reliable.
However, Joseph has not been officially signed. The Pistons have announced the Olynyk and Lyles signings but nothing on Joseph. Why?
Joseph is in a bit of different situation than Olynyk and Lyles.
Both were unrestricted free agents coming other teams. Joseph was a member of the Pistons and had a $12.4 million option for the 2021-22 season that Detroit declined. That made Joseph an unrestricted free agent.
With the $2.4 million of dead money he is already getting, adding in the additional $10 million means Joseph will get the $12.4 million, just over two years instead of one.
Like Kelly Olynyk and Trey Lyles, Joseph can shoot the three-pointer fairly well (career 33.3% but 36.8 percent with Pistons). He is also a veteran point guard who played for coach Dwane Casey in Toronto, so he knows the system.
With a lot of young guards on the team, Killian Hayes, Cade Cunningham and Saben Lee, Joseph’s knowledge and leadership will be helpful and the Pistons wanted him back … at their price.
Joseph was paid $12.4 million for last season, so, if the reports are correct, he will be taking about a 60-percent pay cut. This year’s free agent class had a lot of point guards, and a 30-year-old with a career 7.0 scoring average was not going to be a hot commodity.
Of course, we are not sure of the details. Is it $10 million guaranteed? Is it $5 million for two years and is the second year guaranteed, a team option or a player option.
We do not know. Maybe Detroit is waiting for some other developments. They do not have much cap space. We do know Lyles and Olynyk were, for whatever reason, the priorities, and Joseph is still not official.
It also could be why restricted free agents Frank Jackson (WHO AGREED TO A 2-YEAR DEAL LATE AUGUST 9) and Hamiduo Diallo were still out there unsigned.