The Detroit Pistons haven't made the splashy move that trade rumors suggested, which has disappointed some fans and led short-sighted pundits to give their offseason bad grades.
While the Pistons were eager to add a second scorer and more creation, they refused to do so at a ridiculous price, which was a smart move.
The same can be said of the Jalen Duren saga, as it would have been easy for Detroit to just cave and give him what he wants to ensure a smooth process, but the Pistons have played hardball and will eventually sign Duren at closer to his legitimate market value, which is nowhere near the super-max he is eligible for.
The Pistons added elite 3-point shooters to the roster to help the spacing around Cade Cunningham, which will hopefully make his ball handling duties easier as well.
They did all this while maintaining one of the cleanest cap sheets in the league, one that they are trying to keep that way.
Pistons have a clean payroll at the top, at least for now
A recent breakdown of the top-3 cap eaters on every NBA team showed that few teams around the league have a cleaner cap sheet than the Pistons.
Most teams have at least two players eating up 20 percent of the salary cap each, while the Pistons just have Cade Cunningham at the top with a bunch of role players following him. After Cade's 30 percent of the cap, the next person is John Collins, who is only taking up 10 percent.
The Lakers, Celtics, Cavaliers, Nuggets, Warriors, Pacers, Heat, 76ers and Wizards all have at least two players making over 30 percent of the cap, and if you are counting, the Pistons finished ahead of all of them in the regular season last year.
There are several other teams in the Kings, Jazz, Suns, Raptors and Magic are close to that mark, and again, none of these teams were particularly good last season. The Pistons have managed to keep ahead of all of them while only have one player making max money, and currently San Antonio is the only other good team that can make that claim.
Even the Nets have a worse cap situation than the Pistons, so Trajan Langdon has been great when it comes to maintaining flexibility and keeping the Pistons out of risky long-term deals.
Of course, that could all change when Jalen Duren signs, which is why his number is so important. I've always cheered for players to get their money, but now there are real challenges if you give out a max deal to the wrong guy.
If the Pistons can keep his number around 20 percent of the cap, it will be a big win that will keep them among the most financially flexible teams while still competing for the Eastern Conference.
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