Detroit Pistons now the 600-pound gorilla in NBA free agency
While an established player may have laughed at the thought of joining the Pistons before, they now will be seriously considered.
The GMs of those teams better have been nice to Weaver in the past, as he could make life very hard for them if he wanted to.
Only five NBA teams have more than $6 million in practical cap space, and none close to being championship contenders. If a top free agent player wants to go to a good team, it would have to be via a sign-and-trade, which means at least the team he is leaving gets something in return.
(The most famous sign-and-trade in Detroit history was when Grant Hill went to Orlando, who threw in a backup center named Ben Wallace to the Pistons as part of the deal)
But Weaver does not have to play that sign-and-trade game. The Pistons have enough space to simply offer a player a max deal.
The potential max offer players have been covered on this site (and will continue to be covered in detail), but here are the main possible targets for a max offer.
- Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns: The Suns refused to give the center a max contract last off-season, that could prove to be a big mistake.
- Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets: The Hornets sent a lottery pick to the Knicks to help clear cap space so they can keep Bridges (the Knicks then shipped it to Detroit). Do not forget, Bridges is a Michigan native.
- Jalen Brunson, Dallas Mavericks: He looked good playing next to Luka Doncic, he could look good playing next to Cade Cunningham.
- Kyrie Irving, Nets: Just kidding! Although it would be hilarious to see him lecture Cade Cunningham on how the Earth is flat, and tell Dwane Casey he is going to take off a couple of weeks in the middle of the season, because ‘he has stuff to do’.
Brunson is the only one who is an unrestricted free agent, the other two are restricted FAs, which means their team can retain them by matching the offer sheet.
Phoenix and Charlotte have done the usual ‘we will match any offer’ yada, yada that every team does, hoping to scare other teams away from making a big offer. But there is no reason for Weaver to be frightened off.
Weaver could offer Bridges or Ayton a max contract and, if their current team matches it, fine, he walks away and finds other players to pursue. He has a young crew, not like he is looking for the final piece to the puzzle to compete this season.
With his load of promising young talent, and with Jerami Grant now gone as a reasonable player to give them, Weaver would probably not be interested in a sign-and-trade deal. Give up Saddiq Bey?, ‘Beef Stew’?, nope, not happening.
If Charlotte or Phoenix get that offer sheet, they have two options:
- Match the offer and ruin their balance sheets for the next few years, maybe drop some players to make things work, possibly pay the luxury tax.
- Waive bye-bye and lose one of their best players for nothing. Hear lots of name-calling from fans and media.