How the new collective bargaining agreement affects the Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons and the rest of the league got the good news that the NBA and NBPA reached a new 7-year collective bargaining agreement according to ESPN among others.

This ensures there won’t be any type of stoppage and the league appears to be in a great place overall. The talent level is high, there is parity across the league and players are making more money than ever before.

There wasn’t anything Earth-shattering in the new agreement, but there were some tweaks and changes that will have an affect on the Detroit Pistons in the future.

The NBA collective bargaining agreement and the Detroit Pistons

-The first thing that stuck out to me was that the proposed in-season tournament could start as soon as next season. I wrote about the pros and cons of such a tournament eight months ago before we knew how it would work and I am interested to see how it will play out.

The reaction from fans has been pretty “meh” from what I’ve seen, but it could be interesting for teams like the Detroit Pistons, as it would give them a chance to play in somewhat meaningful games and maybe help them build some momentum for a strong finish next season. The single elimination format would give teams a chance to go on a run and increases the chances for upsets, so who knows, it could be fun.

-The second thing I noticed was that maximums for extensions are increasing by 20 percent, which is great for guys like Jaylen Brown, whose next payday just got a lot bigger. This will make it slightly easier for teams to keep their own free agents, of course just at the moment when the Pistons have cap space.

If the Pistons were thinking about waiting around for Jaylen Brown in free agency, the chances of that happening probably just got lower. Although, the way players are able to force trades now, it’s possible that they will just sign these max extensions and then demand to be moved a year later, so it might not affect anything for the stars and especially the superstars when it comes to player movement.

-Under the new agreement, teams can now have three two-way contracts instead of two. The league must have been listening (they weren’t), as I suggested this in a recent article about how to tweak the G-League. This wouldn’t have mattered much to the Pistons this season, but hopefully in the future they will actually use their G-League affiliate and two-way contracts to develop players that make a contribution as teams like the Heat, Pelicans and Thunder have.

This will make it more likely that Eugene Omoruyi and/or RJ Hampton are on the team on two-way deals next year.