Troy Weaver has had an underwhelming offseason for the Detroit Pistons so far.
Yes, his moves were financially pragmatic and easy to defend in many ways, but Joe Harris and Monte Morris are hardly going to get fans excited.
Especially when we’ve been repeatedly told that next year was the season that the Pistons will finally stop tanking and actually compete. Weaver did address the need for defense and athleticism on the wing with the addition of Ausar Thompson and he certainly addressed the shooting by adding Harris, Monte Morris and draft pick Marcus Sasser.
But the roster is still heavy on guards and centers and doesn’t have a real power forward unless you consider Marvin Bagley III a four, which I do not.
Detroit is currently all out of cap space this summer, but has myriad ways to add depth at the forward position. Here are four guys they could pursue.
Detroit Pistons: Power forwards available in free agency or trade
Ben Simmons
Simmons isn’t really a power forward, but considering he can’t shoot, it might be best to make him into one or even a full-blown center. His name seems to come up every year, and it makes a little more sense now, as he only has two years left on his deal and the Pistons could probably get some assets for taking on that contract.
This would have to happen via trade, but Detroit really doesn’t have the contracts unless they wanted to include Bojan Bogdanovic, and that’s not happening unless the Nets send back a first-round pick along with Simmons.
There’s also the nagging fact that Simmons missed the entire year two seasons ago, only played 42 games last season, brings a ton of drama and he stinks. Other than that, he’s perfect! Let’s put the Ben Simmons speculation to bed right now, shall we?
Detroit Pistons: Power forwards available in free agency or trade
Grant Williams
Restricted free agent Grant Williams is still on the market, but he may not be for long, as the Celtics are reportedly trying to trade him.
Williams has been a steady back up for Boston, as a guy who can defend a couple of positions and shoots around 40 percent from long range. He’s a tough player who has been on long playoff runs on a winning team, so he does make some sense for the Detroit Pistons from a basketball perspective.
But there are a couple of problems with Williams. The first is that he reportedly wants between $15-18 million annually. This is a guy who averaged eight points and four rebounds last season, hardly worth making that type of investment in, even if he’d be playing a larger role in Detroit.
If he were on a deal for something like 3 years/$27 million, a sign and trade for one of the Pistons’ expiring deals might make sense, but not if he is making 15-18 per season.
Is he really that big (if any) of an upgrade over Isaiah Stewart? I think the Celtics would gleefully trade Williams straight up for Beef Stew, who the Pistons may extend this summer.
It’s a lateral move at best and one that is not going to move the needle for Detroit, so it doesn’t make much sense to tie up future cap space for Grant Williams.
Detroit Pistons: Power forwards available in free agency or trade
De’Andre Hunter
De’Andre Hunter of the Hawks is a name I’ve heard bandied about in Pistons’ circles, as Atlanta is currently in salary shedding mode and has several forwards that play the same position. Ideally they’d probably like to get rid of John Collins, but the Pistons luckily avoided that one once.
Hunter has been connected to Detroit in trade rumors, but what exactly would it take to get him and would the Pistons be interested?
Hunter has another four guaranteed years left on his deal that range between $20 and 24 million per season, so his contract is reasonable by modern standards. The 25-year-old averaged 15 points and 4 rebounds per game last season (same as Cameron Johnson btw) but shot only 35 percent from long range.
He’s 6-foot-8 and versatile enough to defend both forward spots and would give Detroit another proven hand to take some of the scoring load off their young guys.
At the right price, Hunter might be worth pursuing, but considering that Detroit has already been in “significant” talks with Atlanta and nothing materialized, I’m guessing that the price was not right.
If Atlanta wanted to take on MBIII and another of the Pistons’ expiring contracts, there may be a deal, but if they are looking for real assets, Detroit should walk away, which is probably what happened.
Hunter isn’t ideal, but he’d help balance the roster in the right trade, so is a name to key an eye on.
Detroit Pistons: Power forwards available in free agency or trade
PJ Washington
PJ Washington, who is a restricted free agent for Charlotte, might be the most interesting name on this list.
He had a bit of a breakout season for the terrible Hornets, averaging 15 points and five rebounds while defending a couple of positions. He’s more versatile defensively than any of the Pistons’ current bigs, as he can defend both the four and five spots.
Washington is not a great shooter, as he hit just 34.8 percent of his 3-point shots this past season, but he did shoot nearly six per game, so he’s a guy who can theoretically spread the floor.
Detroit doesn’t have the cap space to make him an offer, so this would have to be a sign-and-trade.
So of course the question turns to the price, as in what would the Hornets require in return and what would Washington’s future salary look like? He’ll defiantly be getting a bump from the $5.8 million he made last season, but how much is the real question.
Teams never get full value in a sign-and-trade, as they have no leverage (why they don’t happen often) so the cost to acquire Washington would likely be low. He’s not going to move the needle significantly but he would give them more depth at a position of need.
In the end, the Detroit Pistons may be finished making moves and could just go into next season with the roster they have, maintaining their flexibility until they can pounce on a big trade.