The Detroit Pistons officially bought out Nerlens Noel last night, ending one of the least memorable eras in team history.
The news was first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski and now Nerlens Noel is free from his burden of having to sit on his sofa and collect paychecks:
Center Nerlens Noel and the Detroit Pistons have completed a contract buyout, his agent @GeorgeLangberg tells ESPN. Noel can join a team and become eligible for a playoff roster.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 27, 2023
He is free to go join a playoff contender if any will have him. Noel played in just 14 games this season, so I’m sure playoff teams will be lined up to sign a guy who couldn’t make the rotation of one of the worst teams in the NBA.
So raise a glass to Nerlens Noel, who got to live out my dream of making $10 million not to work. We’ll always have that game he racked up four fouls in 19 minutes against the Pelicans to remember him by. The more important issue, however, is what the Detroit Pistons are going to do with his roster spot.
Detroit Pistons: An open roster spot to fill
Even after acquiring RJ Hampton off waivers and signing him to a two-year deal, the Detroit Pistons have an open roster spot that they could use in a number of ways. Here are some of their options.
Leave it open
The Pistons need a lot of change this offseason, so could just leave the roster spot open in preparation for adding some talent and trying to build an actual team next year instead of just randomly adding players that don’t fit together as a cohesive unit. I know, crazy idea.
The rotating 10-day contracts
Detroit could just hand out a series of 10-day contracts to various G-League players and hope one of them shows something. The Pistons have really bombed in player development in the G-League this season, and as bad as they have been, have yet to find a single player who could get some back of the bench minutes.
They have a few in-house options, but could scour the G-League for a wing who has some defensive upside and give that person a shot.
More waiver pick ups
Detroit already grabbed RJ Hampton off waivers and there may be other players who get there as playoff contenders start to fine tune their rosters. Teams that add veteran players will likely have to ditch someone and the Pistons can grab some scraps, which seems to be Troy Weaver’s favorite pass time.
Detroit has just 21 games remaining, so if they are going to fill that spot, they need to do it soon.