The Detroit Pistons have lost eight in a row and have the worst record in the NBA, so it might sound silly to say things are going to plan, but they are.
Troy Weaver knew he was in for a long-term rebuild when he took over as General Manager for the Pistons, as Detroit had little talent, few assets and a bloated payroll full of overpaid veterans who were no longer producing.
Flash forward to the present day and the Pistons are a completely different team and don’t have a single player who Troy Weaver didn’t bring in himself.
The Detroit Pistons are young, rebuilding and not very good but you can see Troy Weaver’s plan for the team starting to come into focus.
Goal #1: Get rid of all of the Detroit Pistons bad contracts
Weaver is not quite there yet, but the Pistons are almost free of any and all bad contracts.
After this season, Blake Griffin’s disastrous deal comes off the books and the Pistons will be one of four teams with copious amounts of cap space next offseason.
After next season, DeAndre Jordan’s dead money will be off the books, though we’ll still have to wait a few more years to get Dewayne Dedmon off the payroll.
If you look at the Pistons payroll, it is looking good for them to be able to add at least one impact free agent next offseason and possibly another max deal in the next.
Even if the Pistons strike out in the free agent market, there are many ways to use that cap space, including making a big trade for a proven star.
Detroit is in a great place financially and should be a major player on the free agent and trade market over the next several seasons.