The Detroit Pistons headed into this offseason with more cap space than any team in the NBA, but might walk away without adding a big name.
Fans have been clamoring for guys like Deandre Ayton, Miles Bridges (though not anymore), Jalen Brunson and Zach LaVine in free agency, players who would make an immediate impact and potentially push the Pistons towards playoff contention.
You have another contingency of fans who want the Pistons to tank for one more year, to get a chance at a generational talent and really try to turn the corner in the 2023-24 season with a core of homegrown players led by Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Saddiq Bey.
The Pistons may have found a comfortable gray area between both, as they have added guys who will help them improve, but not too much, and will still leave them plenty of options for next season.
The Detroit Pistons are being patient
Personally, I am glad that the Pistons are not going to throw a bag at guys like Jalen Brunson or Miles Bridges, as good as they are. These aren’t the types of players who are going to really move the needle for a 23-win team, so why tie up huge money in them?
Ayton was probably a pipe dream from the beginning, but now that Detroit added Jalen Duren and Nerlens Noel, their need at center isn’t nearly as great, though it would be nice if one of their bigs could shoot.
The Pistons aren’t done making moves, and will hopefully address some of their needs in additional trades and free-agent acquisitions, but it’s very unlikely that any of them are of the “big name” variety.
And that’s ok, as the Pistons can achieve their goal of getting incrementally better while collecting assets and setting themselves up to have even more cap space next season when there will be better free agents available and the team might look more enticing to them.
If the Pistons don’t pick up the options on Noel and Burks next summer, they’ll have those two, CoJo, Diallo, and the dead money of DeAndre Jordan coming off the books. That’s, roughly, $35-ish million (assuming none are retained), making them big players again in free agency.
— James L. Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) June 29, 2022
The Pistons will once again have a ton of money coming off the books next offseason, will have a very good young core in place and will be more attractive to potential free agents.
I absolutely do not want the Detroit Pistons to tank next season, and have said that all along, but I am also glad that they don’t seem willing to make mistakes on middling players, which is really what caused the last decade of failure.
Troy Weaver has a plan and it executing it, and while some fans are always going to be angry, he seems to have found a compromise between trying to win now and being patient.