The Detroit Pistons’ offseason has officially begun and now we just have to wait around to see how much cap space they’ll have for upgrades this summer.
As of right now, the Pistons have roughly $28 million in cap space available to them this summer, which is going to be an interesting one after a transformational season.
Trajan Langdon may decide he doesn’t need to go star hunting after watching his team battle the Knicks for six games, especially when it felt like they might have won with a healthy roster and a little more experience.
They got championship lessons last night and I expect them to return stronger next season.
Langdon has to balance bringing back his own free agents with patching some of the Pistons’ obvious holes.
They need another consistent scorer. They need more shooting, and they need more depth at the power forward position, preferably someone who can spread the floor (I have an idea).
But all of this hinges on Cade Cunningham, whose extension kicks in next year and could be even bigger depending on how the All-NBA voting goes.
Detroit Pistons cap space and Cade Cunningham on the All-NBA team
Cunningham is eligible for a larger percentage of the payroll if he makes an All-NBA team, which he probably will.
Cunningham has an argument to be on the first team, though I think he will ultimately end up on the third or second at best.
That doesn’t matter to his cap hit. If Cunningham makes the All-NBA team, the Pistons will lose around $9 million in cap space, taking them from $28 million down to 19. There are some ways around this, namely by operating as a non-tax team as Bobby Marks explains here.
The Pistons have ways to create around $27 million in space even with Cade’s larger cap hit but it certainly complicates things for Trajan Langdon.
This is a problem the Pistons are happy to have, as Cade had a breakout season and made a superstar leap. Although he came up short in his first playoff series, he joined Oscar Robertson and Luka Doncic as the only players who have averaged 25/8/8 for their first five playoff appearances.
The Pistons have one of the necessities for consistent success, which is a superstar player who can be the best guy in a playoff series. Those aren’t easy to come by, and even harder to find ones that are 23 years old.
But that superstar turn will be costly for the Pistons, who have to find ways to improve their roster without losing too much of it, which will be a tricky balancing act for Langdon.