Dead money walking: Could Detroit Pistons lead the NBA in cutting vets

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - AUGUST 13: Jamorko Pickett #54 of the Detroit Pistons dunks against the New York Knicks during the 2021 NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center on August 13, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Pistons defeated the Knicks 93-87. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - AUGUST 13: Jamorko Pickett #54 of the Detroit Pistons dunks against the New York Knicks during the 2021 NBA Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center on August 13, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Pistons defeated the Knicks 93-87. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
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With some promising talent on display in the summer league, Detroit Pistons fans are thinking of cutting some vets to make room. Like a ghost, the player can be gone but their money still remains.

‘Dead money’ in terms of the NBA salary cap, is pretty simple. It is money the team is paying for a player who is no longer with them. Basically, these players are dead to them, but their money owed is very much alive.

Detroit has so much dead money owed for this upcoming season, they could finance an army of zombies.

According to Spotrac.com, the Pistons have over $37.6 million currently assigned to dead money for the 2021-22 season. That is almost 34-percent of their salary cap, going for basically nothing. Most of it is to complete the final year of Blake Griffin’s contract. He is going to be receiving $29.7 million from owner Tom Gores, while he plays for the Brooklyn Nets.

How much more Dead Money does the Detroit Pistons want to add?

With the announced recent signings of Frank Jackson, Cory Joseph and Rodney McGruder, the Pistons have 15 players who have guaranteed contracts for this year. There are 15 spots on an NBA roster. It does not take a mathematical genius to figure out that, if Detroit adds anyone else to the roster, someone has got to be removed, and they still get paid.

Detroit also has two two-way contracts at its disposal. One has reportedly been promised to former UCLA guard Chris Smith, so only one is available.

Draft picks Cade Cunningham and Isaiah Livers are part of the 15 guaranteed contracts, But the other two draft picks, Luka Garza (also known as Bill Laimbeer 2.0) and Balsa Koprivica, plus all the other players on the Pistons summer league team, as of now, have nothing guaranteed.

Garza has been a force in the summer league (so were Henry Ellenson and Stanley Johnson in the past, but that is another story). He scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in a win over the Los Angeles Lakers, with Detroit not playing Cade Cunningham or Killian Hayes.

With his play, Garza has certainly entered the conversation of gaining a spot on the Pistons roster.

Jamorko Pickett, a 6-foot-9 undrafted rookie, has also looked good. The two games he has started, the Pistons won. He had 18 points against the Knicks and 13 versus the Lakers. He showed a good outside touch in both games, a skill Detroit desperately needs.

Speaking of a nice shooting touch, Rochester Adams High grad Spencer Littleson showed one against the Lakers, nailing 5-of10 shots from three-point range. With its best three-point shooter from last year, Wayne Ellington, signing with the Lakers, Detroit is definitely looking for shooters.

Could Garza, Pickett and Littleson make a young, rebuilding team looking ahead to the future, more than for immediate results? Sure. Will they … probably not. Reason: Dead money.