Detroit Pistons: 4 potential free agents from the Miami Heat

The Detroit Pistons will be looking for free-agent upgrades this offseason, some of which could come from the eliminated playoff teams.

The Miami Heat were just knocked out of the Eastern Conference Finals and have a handful of players that might draw some amount of interest from the Detroit Pistons.

Duncan Robinson is a possibility in a trade, though his contract and the fact that he couldn’t get off the bench in the playoffs are major red flags. It’s hard to see the Pistons or anyone else taking him on considering he is under contract through 2025-26 and may not be any good.

With Robinson a long shot, that leaves four unrestricted free agents from the Heat potentially hitting the market, three of which will not likely interest the Pistons, but there is one former All-Star who might be worth a flyer.

Detroit Pistons: Free agents from the Miami Heat

There are three Miami Heat veterans who will all be unrestricted free agents, but it is unlikely that any of them will be coming to the Detroit Pistons.

Udonis Haslem

If he comes back for a 20th season, it will be with the Heat, as he is pretty much a coach at this point and would have more value to the Detroit Pistons in that role than he would as a player.

Markieff Morris

While the Pistons could use some veteran toughness off the bench, I don’t see a reunion with either of the Morrai happening. Morris is at the point in his career where he’ll take minimum money to be on the back of a contender’s bench.

Dewayne Dedmon

This one made me laugh pretty hard, as the Detroit Pistons will already be paying Dedmon $2.8 million in each of the next three seasons. Dedmon was acquired by Detroit in the Great Roster Purge of 2020 and then promptly stretched. I think this was one of Troy Weaver’s more baffling moves, as Dedmon could have actually contributed. Either way, the Pistons aren’t going to pay a 32-year-old fringe veteran twice, so he is out.

That leaves just one free agent, and even though he would come with risk, he is a possibility for the Detroit Pistons, who need an upgrade of talent at the shooting guard position.

Victor Oladipo

Oladipo had to take a minimum deal this season to try and rebuild his value on the Miami Heat, who knew he would miss most of the season with an injury. He came back for just eight regular season games, but was a rotation regular in the playoffs, where he basically took Duncan Robinson’s spot off the bench. Oladipo is certainly not what he was, as he is now on the plus side of 30, but he can still defend and make an impact off the bench.

He played over 25 minutes per game for the Heat during the playoffs, so if he wanted a chance for a bigger role, I could see him joining the Detroit Pistons on another lowball deal. Of course, if the Pistons draft a guard that is probably not going to happen, and Oladipo may have no interest in joining a rebuilding team, even if he had a chance for more minutes.

He’s a long shot for sure, but a guy who wouldn’t be bad veteran bench help at the right price, especially for a team that is so young and could get even younger this offseason.