Detroit Pistons: 5 best off-season moves

2. Welcome back Hamidou Diallo

The Pistons made a trade deadline deal late last season with Oklahoma City for athletic wing Hamidou Diallo, and he had some good games for Detroit, averaging 11.2 points.

Diallo was a restricted free agent at the end of the season. Detroit made him a qualifying offer, meaning they had the right to match any offer he received and keep him. Most expected Diallo, a young player with a lot of upside, to receiver offers in the $10-12 million a year range. Because he was one of their own players, the salary cap was not a factor with the Pistons.

So Diallo waited for the offers to roll in … and waited … and waited.

But with the salary cap not moving up much, due to the pandemic, most teams had quickly used up their cap space. If you were not signed in the first few days, a player was basically out of luck (as fellow free agents Cory Joseph, Rodney McGruder and Frank Jackson discovered)

Diallo finally came to terms with the Pistons on August 19. The terms of the agreement were very team friendly: two years, $10.4 million with the second year a team option.

If the Killian Hayes-Cade Cunningham backcourt does not work out, Diallo would be the prime candidate to slide into the starting lineup. If he continues to make 39-percent of his three-pointers, like he did in his brief time with Detroit, this contract is a major steal.

Good move, Troy!

1. Drafted Cade Cunningham, that it

Sometimes the most obvious move, is obvious for a reason.

Despite a lot of smoke about trading the pick, Detroit took Oklahoma State guard Cade Cunningham with the No.1 pick in the NBA draft. The player selected second, Jalen Green, was not happy about this, and blasted the city of Detroit in a post-draft interview.

On the other hand, Cunningham ingratiated himself to the city. He wore Detroit style shades at the draft, went to a Tigers game and talked about all the rap artists from Detroit he listened to.

Importantly, on the court, Cunningham showed he will not be one of those No. 1 draft busts. He knocked down seven three-pointers in a win over the Knicks and was named second team All-NBA Summer League, even though he did not play in the Pistons last two games.

Cunningham has given hope to Pistons fans, who have not seen a playoff win since 2008. Troy Weaver most likely got a lot of calls for the first pick, and he also had to figure out, for his own benefit, if Cunningham truly was the best player in the draft.

The methodical Weaver said it was not until the morning of the draft he100-percent decided on Cade. So fans know Detroit was not just going a long with the crowd.

Really good move, Troy!