The Detroit Pistons’ offseason has revolved around the Jalen Duren contract negotiation and its ripple effect on a new contract for Ausar Thompson.
Duren still hasn’t signed, and since the Pistons want to get his deal finished first, neither has Thompson, which leaves Detroit with two large pieces of unfinished business as we cruise past the first week of September.
The focus has been on when Duren will sign, and for how much, but when Duren finally does ink his deal with the Pistons, it will create a new problem, which is that someone has to be cut.
The Pistons already have 15 players signed to full-time contracts, so adding Duren means the roster will need to be trimmed, and the decision is not as easy as it initially appears.
Gary Harris vs. Chaz Lanier is not a done deal
The roster cut will likely come down to Gary Harris and Chaz Lanier, as they are the only two players that don’t have real or at least potential roles.
Harris barely played for the Bucks last season and is on the wrong side of 30, so it seems like an easy call to keep the younger and cheaper player in Lanier.
Lanier also looked good in Summer League (not that that means anything considering he’s older than everyone), so it appears at first glance that Harris will be the one who gets cut.
But Harris is a much better defender than Lanier and is also a veteran guard, which the Pistons are in short supply of with most of their guard depth filled out with young players.
Since neither Lanier nor Harris are expected to play much anyway, they might be inclined to keep the veteran Harris, who is still a solid defender who shoots over 40 percent from long range.
He’s also done that over the course of full NBA seasons, unlike Lanier, who has yet to play meaningful minutes in the NBA.
Lanier may eventually be saved by his salary, as Harris will be making $3.8 million next season and Lanier is due just $2.1 million, but the Pistons will be eating some cash either way, as one of those salaries is going into the dead money pile.
I do think there’s a chance Harris ends up on the roster just because of his experience, which is something the Pistons lack, with guys like Daniss Jenkins and even rookie Ebuka Okorie expected to fill some of the guard minutes.
The Pistons will have to decide if Harris’ experience and defense are worth more than Lanier’s potential, and they’ll have to make that choice before the ink on Duren’s new contract is even dry.
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