If Pistons are priced out of Jalen Brunson market, who is up next?

The Detroit Pistons will have money to spend in free agency this summer but may have little to spend it on.

This is especially true after Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks embarrassed the Phoenix Suns in game seven to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Mavericks’ guard Jalen Brunson is a guy the Pistons are reportedly “planning a big money offer” to this offseason, but after the Mavs made the West Finals, it is hard to see them parting ways with the unrestricted free agent.

Brunson has taken his game up a notch in the playoffs, averaging 23.2 points,  4.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists for a team that is now in the conference finals.

With few other options, the Mavs are likely to throw a max at Brunson, and when you factor in the Knicks’ reportedly pursuing him as well, this sounds like a bidding war the Pistons should stay out of, as competing with the Knicks for free agents is a recipe for disaster.

The Pistons would be better off exercising patience (the fans are with them), going after a second-tier free agent (or putting all of their efforts into Deandre Ayton), or using their cap space to orchestrate a trade.

The free-agent guard group is fairly weak past the top, but there is one guy who might make sense for the Detroit Pistons.

The Detroit Pistons and free-agent guard Gary Harris

One name that we will likely hear connected to the Detroit Pistons at some point is unrestricted free agent Gary Harris.

The former Michigan State Spartan played for the Orlando Magic this season, where he averaged 11.1 points, two rebounds and 1.8 assists in 28.4 minutes per game.

Harris started about half the games he played for Orlando this season and shot 38.4 percent from long range on five attempts per game.

Harris would give the Detroit Pistons a reliable 3-point shooter off the bench, especially if they decided not to exercise their team option on Frank Jackson.

The question is whether Harris is enough of an upgrade from Jackson to justify his cost, which would almost certainly be higher. Harris is coming off a deal that paid him $20 million a season, but he is not going to get close to that on his next contract.

If the Pistons re-sign Marvin Bagley III and exercise team options on Jackson and Hamidou Diallo, they won’t have much cap space left and a guy like Harris would represent a veteran upgrade at a position where they need shooting around Cade Cunningham. But he could be a luxury that is not really going to move the needle unless they part ways with their own guys.

Depending on what they do with their team options, Harris may not be a possibility for Detroit, as he’s the type of mid-tier veteran free agent they might be pursuing if they miss out on the top guys.