The Detroit Pistons should once again have a huge amount of cap space at the end of this season.
But the question is whether they will actually spend it. One of the biggest criticisms of Troy Weaver is that he has not used his cap space to acquire players who can help the team win games, instead continually punting it down the road, as he did with the expiring contract of Joe Harris. “Joe Harris’ expiring contract” is now his full name.
The Pistons could have even more cap space next offseason, as they will have as many as six players coming off the books. I feel like Charlie Brown thinking this will finally be the time he kicks the football before Lucy pulls it away, but could this be the year the Pistons do something with their cap space?
A recent article from Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report looked at some of 2024’s top unrestricted free agents and named the Detroit Pistons as an alternative landing spot for several of them. This article was no way saying that these players are going to end up in Detroit, in fact, with most of them, the Pistons have little to no chance.
Two NBA free agents who are not coming to the Detroit Pistons
Kawhi Leonard and Paul George
I’m just going to lump these two together because I see no chance either of them will ever play in Detroit. Both have huge player options for next season, and as B/R rightfully states, will likely sign extensions to stay with the Clippers. Both are LA guys and there’s no way they are going to choose Detroit in free agency.
Even if the Clippers flame out this season, they are far more likely not to bring back James Harden than either of these two, though there is an argument they should trade one of them and do a soft rebuild around the other, as this duo seems to have hit their ceiling.