What do the Detroit Pistons really think? Follow the money

‘Talk is cheap’ is an old saying. ‘Follow the money’ is another one. When it comes to what the Detroit Pistons are doing this off-season, your best window into their thinking in the second saying.

The phrase ‘Money talks’ is also very applicable.

Pistons general manager Troy Weaver and coach Dwane Casey both say lots of nice things about players who might play for Detroit next season. As well they should, no need to burn bridges.

But who they are having owner Tom Gores actually write checks to, and how big an amount, really shows what they think.

First, you need to remember that 34% of the Pistons cap space for 2021-22 is dead money, due mostly to the final year of Blake Griffin’s contract. So Detroit has to be very judicious in who they sign to contracts. They will not be throwing around crazy money.

So who are the Detroit Pistons showing they really want with $$$$

(all salary information courtesy Spotrac)

There is a difference between something like a ‘Woj Bomb’, a credible report in the media, and actually having a contract filed with the NBA office.

Since August 6 at 6 p.m., teams have been able to register all the contracts that occured in a wild week and a half. The reported deals probably still occur, but which contracts they deem the most important to officially file first, is a sign of their priorities.

Let us look at the two categories of players the Pistons have been signing: Free agents and draft picks.

Pistons free agent signees:

Who is official (as of 8/09)

• Kelly Olynyk : 3 years, $37,195,122 contract , including $28,000,000 guaranteed
• Trey Lyles:   2 years, $5,125,000 contract, including $2,500,000 guaranteed.
• Saben Lee: 3 year $5.14 million contract

What it means:

Detroit obviously prefers Olynyk on the team rather than last year’s starting center, Mason Plumlee, as Olynyk is being guaranteed $12 million more than Plumlee was going to get, over the next two years.

Age-wise, Olynyk and Plumlee are about the same (over 30) but Olynyk is a good outside shooter, while Plumlee gets his points around the basket. He can also swing to the power forward position, opening up more minutes for Isaiah Stewart, and other big men on the roster. Plumlee was strictly a center.

If things go awry, the Pistons can get out of the third year of the contract by paying Olynyk $3 million. But make no mistake about it, with their limited cap space, Olynyk was Detroit’s big-free agent signing on the year.

Lyles is also a big who can shoot the three. Maybe not as good as Olynyk, but he is not bad (34-percent for career on low volume) from beyond the arc. Unlike, Olynyk, Lyles is a pure power forward.

Lyles is coming from one of the best organizations in the NBA, in San Antonio. That they did not want to bring Lyles back was probably a red flag to other teams. Considering he is taking a 50-percent pay cut, compared to what the Spurs paid him, the market for Lyles was probably not overwhelming.

Throw in the fact Lyles is going to a city which he said, was horrible, and one wonders if he had any other offers of substance.

For whatever reason, the Pistons are taking a flier on Lyles. He is only 25-years-old so there could still  be some additional upside to his game. Lyles also has started 103 games in the NBA, a lot more than most of his new teammates.

Lyles coming is not good news for Sekou Doumbouya, as power forward is the position he most plays. But the Pistons start Jerami Grant at the ‘4’, and now have Lyles to back him up. Olynyk and maybe Isaiah Stewart, can swing from center to power forward as well.

The money is definite now, so, whether Pistons fans like it or not (and most do not), Lyles will be on the team, at least for this season. Detroit is not paying $2.5 million to then release him.

As for Saben Lee, the contract is a reward for a solid rookie season. The fact he played well when paired with Killian Hayes certainly helped him convince the Pistons to offer a multi-year contract.

As a two-way player last season, Lee did not make a lot, as it was below the NBA minimum salary. What he is getting from Detroit is not exactly Kevin Durant money, but, in comparison to last season, it is a massive increase.

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.

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.

Detroit Pistons draft picks: Halfway there

The NBA collective bargaining agreement has made contracts for first round picks very easy. Each slot in the first round has an assigned salary number and a team can not go more than 20% over it. All teams sign their first rounders with the extra 20%, so not much for agents and teams to haggle over.

Detroit Pistons draft picks with official contracts

• Cade Cunningham: 4 year, $44.60 million rookie scale contract
• Isaiah Livers: 3 year $4.46 million contract

Cade Cunningham’s signing was so non-controversial, many fans might not even realize he already has a contract with Detroit.

The collective bargaining agreement also says that second round picks do not have to be offered guaranteed contracts. That is a reason some cap-strapped teams trade out of the first round for second round picks.

Yet, the Pistons have signed one of their second-round draft choices, Michigan’s Isaiah Livers, to a partially guaranteed deal, using precious cap space.

It is particularly interesting that Detroit is offering Livers guaranteed money now, when it does not have to, because they know he will not be of immediate help. Livers suffered a foot stress reaction in March and had to have surgery. At his introductory press conference, Livers said he is hoping to be back on the court by November.

It is not a huge sum of money the Pistons are giving Livers. But for the 42nd overall pick to get a three-year deal with some guaranteed money is a sign Detroit really likes the 6-7 power forward. As an example, the player selected 42nd the year before, Nick Richards, only got a $1 million, one year contract.

Oh, and Livers also a solid three-point shooter (Note a trend in who Troy Weaver is bringing in?), making over 40-percent in his collegiate career.

Detroit Pistons currently unsigned draft picks

• Luka Garza, 6-11, Iowa
• Balsa Koprivica, 7-1, Florida State

Garza was picked 10 slots after Livers (52nd) and Koprivica five spots after that (57th).

Both are playing with the Pistons summer league team in Las Vegas, when coach Dwane Casey and GM Troy Weaver can get a close look at them.

Garza, not Cunningham, was named the National College Player of the Year. He had a great career at Iowa but he shot 33.8 percent from three in his career. He is working on improving his outside shot, and it has been clear this off-season that shooting is a priority. His foot speed on defense is also something they will be looking at.

Koprivica got a late start as he was part of the Mason Plumlee trade and had to wait for it to be processed. He did not have the career in college like Garza (but he did play a year of high school with Cunningham) but he is taller and is also working on his three-point shot.

Right now, the only centers the Pistons have are Isaiah Stewart and Jahlil Okafor with Olynyk able to play that position, and coach Casey has mentioned he might look at Grant as a small-ball center.

If they impress in summer league, Garza or Koprivica could find a spot in Detroit’s 15-man roster as a depth piece at center. There is still one two-way contract available or they could be offered an Exhibit 10 contract, which would pay them extra to play on Detroit’s G-League team.

Simply ignore the noise and follow the contracts, and you will get a much clearer picture of what the Detroit Pistons are planning for the future.