Former Pistons who might be out of the NBA next season

There are former Detroit Pistons all over the league after the team blew up the roster three years ago and has had continued churn since.

A good portion of the players on the roster that Troy Weaver took over are no longer in the league and none of them are on the Detroit Pistons.

I was happy to see the backs of most of these players, though there are a few that we’d still like to have around.

Either way, I end up keeping tabs on some of these guys, mostly out of curiosity, and there are three hanging on as available free agents who might not be in the league next season.

Former Pistons who might be out of the NBA next season

Before I start getting angry messages on Facebook (why is it always Facebook?), I am not in any way shape or form suggesting that the Detroit Pistons use their final roster spot on any of these players.

Their time in Detroit has passed and that is fine, but I am still curious where they might end up or whether they will even have jobs.

Ish Smith

Smith was part of Pistons 2.0 in Denver last season, as the Nuggets had four ex-Pistons on the roster. He only appeared in 43 games and didn’t play much, so Smith is firmly in the “veteran mentor” stage of his career. Smith has played for 13 teams in his career, with his longest stint being with the Detroit Pistons. I hope someone other than the Nuggets signs him, so he can continue his quest to play for every team in the NBA.

Blake Griffin

Blake played about as much as Ish Smith did last season, so he too is in the twilight of his career age at 34 with plenty of miles on his legs. I’m sure Blake would love to get on a roster and chase a bench ring as a sweetener to a borderline Hall-of-Fame career but so far he’s waiting for a call.

Hamidou Diallo

You can go from prospect to out of the league quickly in the NBA, which is what could happen to Hamidou Diallo. Diallo is fun to watch, as he flies around and hustles, but he’s a known commodity at this point, so most teams would rather roll the dice on a draft pick or younger player on a minimum. Guys like Diallo (who are good enough to be in the league but not seen as huge difference-makers) are increasingly going to get squeezed out of the NBA under the new CBA, which makes it more difficult to fill out a roster with mid-priced guys beneath your max stars. Diallo, along with guys like Christian Wood and Kelly Oubre Jr. are going to have to take less, otherwise, teams will just populate the back of their rosters with younger, cheaper players.