The Detroit Pistons need another overhaul around their young core and have a number of roster spots potentially open for next season.
With three free agents and three players with unexercised club options, the Pistons will have decisions to make this offseason and some will be easier than others.
So let’s play a quick game of return or burn for the Detroit Pistons this offseason.
Detroit Pistons free agents: Return or burn?
Cory Joseph: Unrestricted Free Agent
Joseph had a nice campaign last season, but his contributions have shrunk and the holes in his game are showing. The vet runs the offense a couple minutes a night, doesn’t turn it over much, but isn’t much of a threat to score himself. His 3-point shooting has sunk to 31 percent, his field goal percentage just 39 percent. Both are career worsts. There won’t be a role for him here next year.
Conclusion: Burn
Rodney McGruder: Unrestricted Free Agent
McGruder hasn’t been anything special while a Piston but has given the team good 3-point shooting in very small doses. This season he’s at 39 percent, which is actually the lowest mark during his three campaigns with the Detroit Pistons. He’s 31, which doesn’t have to be a minus but it isn’t a plus. Even if he’s willing to come back on a team-friendly deal, I’d let him go just to get some new blood in here. A team that has lost this much needs to change its chemistry. It’s hard to find a compelling reason to give McGruder another deal.
Conclusion: Burn
Detroit Pistons team options: Return or burn?
Alec Burks, Club Option – $10 million
Burks has had a vintage season for the Pistons at 31-years-old. The veteran has bounced around the league, stopping in six other cities before arriving in the D. He has to have exceeded Weaver’s expectations with his play. The man is knocking down 3’s at a career-high 43.5 percent clip. In 22 minutes a night he’s scoring nearly 13 points, grabbing a couple of boards and dishing out a couple of assists, and registering nearly one steal. Solid play from such a vagabond. Maybe mercenary is a better word, given how he’s been such an assassin from downtown.
Burks is one of the best 3-point shooters in the league, and if the Pistons weren’t going to bring him back, they likely would have traded him already. If Weaver’s goal is truly to “be great next year” then they will need veterans like Burks. He’s not going anywhere unless the Pistons need his contract to make a big trade.
Conclusion: Return
Nerlens Noel, Club Option – $9.2 million
A harder decision than whether to return or burn Noel would be which color ink to use when writing burn. I’d use a bold red color had I the option. Jalen Duren, James Wiseman, Isaiah Stewart, Marvin Bagley and Chuck Nevitt have all meant more to the franchise than Noel. He’s now sitting at home, collecting checks, which should tell you all you need to know. He’s not going to be a Piston next season. He arguably isn’t even one now.
Conclusion: Burn
Detroit Pistons: Return or burn?
Isaiah Livers, Club Option – $1.8 million
Livers is a player that I’ve liked since the Wolverines made their last Final Four run. He was an ideal second-round pick for the Pistons in 2021. In his two seasons here, he’s averaged a good 20 minutes a night. He played all four collegiate seasons at Michigan and showed up to the NBA ready to play basketball. He shoots the 3-ball well enough (38 percent for his pro career), but his numbers have dropped nearly across the board compared to last season. At 6-foot-7, Livers has some length, and there is still plenty of potential in there for the 24 year-old Michigan man to become a 3-and-D guy that is coveted league-wide. But that’s the upside. The downside is he hasn’t done it consistently, stayed on the floor enough and is a sub-par isolation defender.
All things considered, the Detroit Pistons need to pick that option him and give him hard look in a make-or-break campaign for the young man. He’ll either play his way into the nucleus, or out of it.
Conclusion: Return
Hamidou Diallo: Unrestricted Free Agent
This is perhaps the hardest decision of all as far as this list of players goes. Hamidou Diallo is an exciting athlete who meshes nicely with players like Alec Burks off the bench. Diallo’s real value to the team comes as a defender and energy guy. He’s a good rebounder, especially for his height and he’s still just 24 years old and has room for improvement, but he also has some glaring warts.
It is hard to be a wing in todays NBA and shoot just 28 percent from outside the arc. And for someone who can attack the basket so well, a 59 percent free throw percentage isn’t much to get excited about, either.
I’ve enjoyed watching Diallo while he’s been a Piston, even though his play can be frustrating. If he’s content being an energy player off the bench that only gets a handful of minutes a game, and content to be paid accordingly, I wouldn’t shoo him away. But at his age, it’s hard to imagine that there isn’t another team anywhere that’s willing to gamble on the athleticism and try to “fix” the shooting. I think someone comes calling with a multi-year deal that the Pistons just can’t – shouldn’t – match.
Conclusion: Burn