Yesterday was a showcase for many of the NBA’s top players and I am sure the Detroit Pistons were watching.
The NBA free agent crop is pretty thin this offseason, but there are a few guys who would be nice fits with the Pistons.
Unfortunately, the best players are of the restricted free agent variety, with one guy starting to separate himself from the pack.
That player is former Michigan State Spartan Miles Bridges, who put on a show in Madison Square Garden yesterday, dropping 38 points and adding 12 rebounds and five assists.
His stock undoubtedly went up after that performance and he is now averaging 19.6 points and 7.2 rebounds for the season.
There is a lot to like about Miles Bridges fit with the Pistons, who definitely need an influx of talent, but the question is whether they would be able to steal him away from the Hornets.
What would restricted free agent Miles Bridges cost the Detroit Pistons?
Bridges reportedly turned down a 4 year/$60 million extension from the Hornets, a smart move on his part because he’s going to get way more than that now.
As a player with fewer than seven years in the league, Bridges is eligible for 25 percent of his team’s salary cap, and if the Pistons wanted to steal him away, that is exactly what it is going to cost, as the Hornets can match any offer and can tack another year onto it.
The max the Pistons could offer would be around 4 years/$120 million (depending on the final cap number) and it would almost certainly take such an offer to get the Hornets to walk away.
The way he is playing right now, I think they’d match or exceed that, but the Hornets are going to have to do some financial wheeling and dealing to do it.
With both Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier locked up at big numbers and LaMelo Ball’s extension looming, the Hornets would essentially be making that their core, as they’d have four guys on big deals (but only for a season) and be pretty deep into the luxury tax, which may not be palatable for a small-market team.
Of course, a lot can happen and if the Hornets could find a home for Hayward or Rozier (more likely Hayward), then they’d be just fine.
Let’s assume for just a second that the max offer would scare the Hornets away (I don’t think it would but we can dream), should the Detroit Pistons make it?
The Detroit Pistons have to use their cap space wisely
The Detroit Pistons will be one of the only teams with cap space this offseason, and the NBA free agent crop is thin, which can be a dangerous position to be in.
The Pistons may only get one shot to land a big-time free agent, so they have to spend their money wisely and can’t just splash out on a guy because he is available.
The good news is that the Pistons don’t have any bad contracts on their books after this season and Cade Cunningham won’t be getting his raise until he (hopefully) signs his rookie extension.
By the time that season comes around, the Pistons will only have seven guys under contract, and that’s if they pick up the team options on Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Saddiq Bey, Saben Lee and Isaiah Livers.
The Pistons cap sheet is as clean as just about any in the NBA (barring all the dead money), so unlike the Hornets, they don’t have big money tied up in anyone at the moment, so they can most certainly take on Miles Bridges max deal, especially if they end up trading Jerami Grant, which would almost be a certainty in this scenario.
Other than Cade Cunningham, I can’t see any other Pistons player getting a max deal, so they’d have his contract and Bridges’ staggered and hopefully Bey and Stewart locked up to much lower numbers.
The financial part of this wouldn’t be a problem for the Detroit Pistons, so the next question is whether a foundation of Cade Cunningham, Miles Bridges, Saddiq Bey and the 2022 draft pick is good enough to win in the Eastern Conference.
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.