Pistons news: How the new CBA will help Detroit

The NBA’s new Collective Bargaining Agreement will start in 2024-25 and have big effects around the league, including on the Detroit Pistons.

The main concern seemed to be financial parity, closing the gap between the teams at the top of the payroll tower and those at the bottom.

Last year there was a $79 million gap between the Golden State Warriors, who spent the most, and the Indiana Pacers, who spent the least.

Teams will be more heavily penalized for crossing the second tax apron, and could even lose draft picks in the future, so there will be more than money at stake. Obviously, the teams in bigger markets have more access to revenue, so could just outspend everyone else if they wanted, paying the luxury tax along the way. Now, it could cost them picks and future flexibility.

This hasn’t really been an issue for Detroit, as they are rebuilding and don’t have any max players, which is why they had just the 24th-highest payroll in the league last season.

But there are some ways that the new CBA will affect them in the future that may make it easier for them to keep their team together.

Pistons news: How the new CBA will help Detroit

Most of the Detroit Pistons’ top players are still on rookie deals, but their future could get very expensive.

While the new tax rules could hamper them from keeping all of their players together, there are other parts of the new CBA that will help.

Players can sign extensions worth 140% of their current salary

This will help Detroit keep their homegrown players, as they’ll be eligible for more money than if they were to leave in free agency. This could also mean fewer free agents on the market, which is good for the Pistons, as they never sign big free agents anyway.

Rookie extensions go up to five years for any salary

Under the previous rules, only players who signed max rookie extensions were eligible for five additional years. This is perfect timing for the Pistons, as all of their young players are basically the same age and will be up for extensions in consecutive years. Right now, Cade Cunningham is the only player likely to get a max rookie extension, so this rule will potentially allow the Pistons to lock up Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren for five years each even if they don’t get full max deals. The Pistons are trying to build their roster through the draft and this makes it easier to retain players, maintain continuity and build an actual team.

Players acquired via trade can extend for four seasons

The Pistons are far more likely to trade for a star than sign one in free agency, and this new rule will allow them to dangle bigger extensions in front of the guys they trade for. It makes it slightly less risky to trade for players on expiring deals, as the team can offer them a four-year extension right away. It would have allowed them, for example, to extend Monte Morris for four years this summer, locking him in for most of his prime years at a good rate.

There will be no limit to rookie and max extensions

Under the new agreement, teams were only allowed to have two max rookie extensions and two supermax extensions at the same time. Considering how many of the Detroit Pistons are on the same timeline, this would mean that only two of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson could be on max rookie extensions at the same time, limiting what Deroit could offer the other two. It’s possible this won’t end up mattering, but it could, especially if Thompson exceeds expectations. This will allow teams like Detroit to offer more money to their own guys and hopefully keep them around.

Even though the CBA mostly took aim at the teams at the top of the financial ladder, it could have ramifications for the Pistons down the road.