1 restricted free agent separating himself, but is he worth it for Pistons?

The Detroit Pistons with Miles Bridges

So let’s say everything goes perfectly this offseason. The Detroit Pistons are able to find a taker for Jerami Grant and bring back a decent haul with a young player and draft pick.

They make the max offer to Bridges and the Hornets decide not to match it. That would leave the Pistons with a starting five that looked something like this:

• Cade Cunningham
• Jaden Ivey
• Miles Bridges
• Saddiq Bey
• Isaiah Stewart

or

• Cade Cunningham
• Miles Bridges
• Saddiq Bey
• Jabari Smith
• Isaiah Stewart

or

• Cade Cunningham
• Miles Bridges
• Saddiq Bey
• Chet Holmgren
• Isaiah Stewart

These are just a few of the myriad roster possibilities given the Pistons current lottery odds and the guys who might interest them in the 2022 draft.

That might not be a championship roster yet, but it is a good start, as any of those groups would provide scoring and plenty of defensive versatility. In a league that values versatile wing-type players more than anything, the Pistons would have at least three of them in the starting five.

Of course, Bridges does carry some risk as well. He seems like the type of hard-working player who will keep developing and improving as he has so far in his career. He has also shown that he is fine playing as a complementary player with a ball-dominant point guard, so should be a nice fit with Cade Cunningham.

He has also shown that he can take over games and the idea of both him and Saddiq Bey on the wing is pretty appealing, as both are tough, hard-working players who strive to get better.

But if Bridges has maxed out his potential, the Detroit Pistons might be overpaying to get him, in which case their cap money might not be allocated efficiently enough to build a roster that can compete for a top spot, which could doom them to the purgatory of chasing the 9th seed every season.

It’s a lot to think about, but Miles Bridges is starting to separate himself from the pack and could be the guy the Detroit Pistons pursue in the offseason.