The Detroit Pistons have already had a very good offseason but it is far from over.
Troy Weaver has gotten high grades for the Jerami Grant trade and the draft, where he landed Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Gabriele Procida without having to take on any long-term money.
The Pistons still have a load of cap space and can use it to try and grab one player like Miles Bridges, or spread it around to a combination of their own guys and external free-agent options.
We’ll know a lot more after tomorrow, which marks an important date on the Pistons offseason calendar.
After tomorrow we will get a better idea of what the Detroit Pistons plan to do with the rest of the offseason.
Detroit Pistons: June 28th and the team options
June 28th is the day that the Pistons have to choose whether to exercise team options on Frank Jackson, Hamidou Diallo and Luka Garza.
Of the three, Garza is the least likely to return, as the Pistons already have Isaiah Stewart, Jalen Duren and Kelly Olynyk and will likely try to upgrade the third center position with a veteran.
Jackson and Diallo are a little more difficult, as both have flashed signs of being productive role players off the bench, though they have been wildly inconsistent. The Pistons might feel they can upgrade these two spots, but both guys are on team-friendly deals that would be easy to move.
That makes it very likely that the Pistons pick up these options, but that doesn’t mean these two guys will be on the team next season, as Detroit would have to exercise their options if they want to trade them, otherwise they hit the free-agent market.
Both players likely have some amount of value, so expect the Pistons to pick up these options.
Detroit Pistons: June 29th is also an important date
The Pistons have another team option to decide on by June 29th in guard Carsen Edwards, who they signed late last season.
The Pistons will also have to issue qualifying offers to both Marvin Bagley III and Jamorko Pickett.
Edwards and Pickett are not likely to be back, as neither did much with their limited minutes and the Pistons can probably find better players on similar lowball deals.
Bagley III is the big one here and the much-tougher decision, as the Pistons have to figure out whether he is part of the long-term plans, and exactly how much they will pay to retain him.
MBIII did play well for the Detroit Pistons in bursts, but there are still concerns about his defense and durability. They’ve also upgraded their athleticism in the big-man ranks by adding Duren, so it’s possible that MBIII’s services are no longer as necessary as they would have been if the Pistons didn’t land another big.
Bagley’s qualifying offer is just over $7 million, and I am sure the Pistons would probably like to keep his annual salary around that level if they do intend to keep him. He could just accept the qualifying offer, play out one season and become an unrestricted free agent, which he might do if he thinks that is the best way to rebuild his value and land a more lucrative long-term deal in the future.
If the Pistons didn’t make the QO, then MBIII would be an unrestricted free agent right away, which is another possible scenario, especially if Detroit wanted to avoid tying up a huge cap hold in restricted free agency and already has a handshake agreement in place to keep him or to let him walk.
There are a lot of moving parts, but we’ll know a lot more after tomorrow and Wednesday, so stay tuned.