Detroit Pistons: This deal sets baseline for Isaiah Stewart only

The Detroit Pistons will have some tough personnel decisions to make this offseason, especially when it comes to extensions.

They have three players from the 2020 NBA Draft eligible for rookie extensions in Isaiah Stewart, Killian Hayes and James Wiseman.

All three are tough calls, as you don’t want to give too large an extension to a player that has not yet earned it, but it’s also a risk to allow players to enter next season on an expiring deal. Extend them now, and you might get a bargain, but you could also be stuck with a dud if it doesn’t work out.

Wait, and that player could blow up, which would make them a lot more expensive in restricted free agency if another team or two wants to make them an offer.

The Detroit Pistons may not have enough data on James Wiseman yet, and we’ve talked about how much might be too much for Killian Hayes, but what about Isaiah Stewart? A recent rookie extension probably set the floor for what Stewart will get.

Detroit Pistons: Isaiah Stewart’s extension

Yesterday it was announced that the Charlotte Hornets were giving center Nick Richards a three year extension for $15 million.

I saw a lot of Pistons’ fans getting excited and asking if this is what we could expect for an Isaiah Stewart extension. The answer: dream on.

While Richards’ deal may set the ground floor for a Stewart extension, Beef Stew is going to get considerably more. For one, he was a first-round pick, which immediately gives him a much higher qualifying offer than Richards, who went in the second round.

Also, Stewart has been the much better player so far. His rookie numbers were superior to what Richards is putting up now, though he has played much better of late. Stewart is better in almost every aspect of the game except blocked shots, and even that is by a narrow margin, though again, Richards has been on a tear of late.

Stewart’s qualifying offer for an extension is $7.39 million, so you can probably start there as a base salary in his next deal. If the Detroit Pistons do offer to extend Stewart, I’d expect it will be somewhere in the 3 years/$24 million range at least. A 3 year/$15 million deal is probably closer to what Killian Hayes will get and even he might get more.

The fact that Beef Stew has only played 50 games this season may lower the cost to extend him some, but it’s not going to lower it into Richards’ range.

The real question is whether the Pistons are going to do it, as they already traded away Saddiq Bey, partially to avoid this very discussion. They could choose to play it out with Stewart next season and see how it goes, or he too might be on the trading block this summer.