After suffering through a 17-win season, fans of the Detroit Pistons are ready for things to change.
Detroit took the first steps towards that goal by hiring one of the most coveted head coaches on the market and signing him to a league-record deal. They added two first-round picks to the roster in Ausar Thompson and Marcus Sasser, players who should help improve their defense right away.
Now the Pistons turn to free agency, and they have already been busy, picking up team options on Alec Burks, Isaiah Livers and Eugene Omoruyi, who was somewhat surprising.
After picking up those options, the Pistons will have around $28 million in cap space to spend this summer, and fans are dreaming of bringing another big name to Detroit to complement their impressive young core of talent.
But they may have to wait.
Detroit Pistons: Weaver’s free-agent strategy may disappoint fans
Fans of the Pistons have been talking nonstop about which free-agent acquisition would be best, with names like Cameron Johnson, Jerami Grant, Kyle Kuzma and Harrison Barnes among those discussed.
The idea is that adding the right complementary starter can help push this team to the next level and make them competitive in the Eastern Conference.
But last Friday, Troy Weaver was asked specifically about free agency in a Q&A and tried to downplay its important to the Detroit Pistons:
"“How we fill out the rest of it in free agency, whatnot, is not pressing right now. Because I think you can add and subtract from some of these young guys growing into becoming who they are. So we’re going to be careful with that before we bring in guys that can kind of deter us from really finding out who these guys are.”"
This could all be posturing of course, but this doesn’t sound like a guy who is getting ready to make a huge move in free agency. That doesn’t mean the Detroit Pistons won’t make a big addition this summer, but they may choose a different way to do it.
There are definitely pros and cons to Detroit not making a splashy move in free agency.
Detroit Pistons: Weaver’s free-agent strategy may disappoint fans
The Pros
Just from interacting with fans online, I do think there would be some level of disappointment if the Pistons didn’t go out and sign or trade for a starting-level player.
But there may be some positives to taking that approach:
- The Pistons are likely to have to go big on a contract to lure one of the top guys to Detroit. Not doing so would keep them from being locked into a deal before they even really know what they have with their own team. The collection of players on their roster have barely played together and some of them not at all. Being patient would allow Detroit to evaluate their own guys and see what exactly they need to complement them.
- The second contracts for guys like Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart (maybe), Killian Hayes (big maybe) and James Wiseman (biggest maybe) are all right around the corner. Signing a big free-agent contract could limit their future possibilities with this group before they even see them all play together. With so many young players stacked on top of each other, Detroit is going to have to be careful or risk having a financial mess, especially after the new CBA makes it more difficult to retain your own stars. Signing a splashy name now may cost them a player in the future.
- There are other ways to get talent. Detroit could trade from their surplus of big men to get a guy without having to make a huge financial commitment. This may be the best way to balance the roster without mortgaging the future to do it.
- With no true superstars available that would be fits, it might be best to spread the money around, sign two guys and look for depth and value. Would signing Cameron Johnson be better than signing two guys like Dillon Brooks and Max Strus if the price is the same?
- If they don’t see the perfect player now, then holding onto some cap space and waiting may be prudent. There are going to be teams looking to shed salary under the new CBA and the Pistons may be able to take advantage in a trade.
Of course, there are also cons to not adding a big name.
Detroit Pistons: Weaver’s free-agent strategy may disappoint fans
The Cons
The Detroit Pistons are coming off one of the worst seasons in team history. Fans need something to be excited about other than adding more young players to the roster who will need a few years to develop.
Patience is running thin, so there is some downside to not making a move that will add some excitement (and ticket sales) around the team.
- If the Pistons don’t sign another veteran this offseason, they will have a very young team, even younger than last year. You may not have noticed, but extremely young teams do not win many games, unless you are the OKC Thunder and have an All-Pro flanking them. Detroit may very well have that when Cade Cunningham returns, but if not, they’d have the same two veterans (Bogdanovic and Burks) as last season and would be potentially replacing Cory Joseph, Hamidou Diallo and Rodney McGruder (don’t be shocked if he’s back) with more young, unproven players. This is not a recipe for making the leap Troy Weaver has often talked about.
- The Pistons are hoping for internal improvement and they should get it. Cunningham is going to come back with a vengeance and remind people why he was the number one pick. Jaden Ivey is working towards that goal as we speak. But would internal improvement and two more first-round draft picks really be enough to get Detroit out of the cellar? I’m not so sure. They still have big holes in the roster. Sitting on their money, or giving it all to multiple role players may be prudent in some ways, but I for one am not keen on struggling through another 20-25 win season. Enough is enough already.
- These young players need to taste some success. Detroit has talked A LOT about culture, but nothing is going to change until they start winning games. So far all of their young guys have done nothing but lose and if that mindset is ever going to change, they have to taste some success and get used to playing in games that matter.
I trust that Troy Weaver knows what’s best for this team better than I do, and if he doesn’t think the right guy is available in free agency, there is no reason to reach just to do something. But they do have to do something to move the needle or there are going to be some disappointed fans.