The Detroit Pistons added veterans Taurean Prince and Gary Harris as part of the sign-and-trade for John Collins, which was eventually expanded to include six teams.
Prince and Harris are on the downsides of their careers, so they were mostly looked at as veteran fillers who happen to have a quality the Pistons were seeking, which is that they can shoot the 3-ball.
Prince could certainly play a role as a backup four for the Pistons, as they are thin at the position and need more shooting behind John Collins, but Gary Harris was immediately identified as a player who wouldn’t likely be on the roster by the start of next season.
That could be true of both him and Prince, as their contracts may end up being more important than any contributions they were ever going to make to the team.
Taurean Prince and Gary Harris could be traded by the Pistons
Because both Prince and Harris were acquired early in the offseason, they will be eligible to be aggregated in a trade on September 8th, about three weeks ahead of training camp.
That may not seem like much, but if the Pistons had a deal brewing that required their contracts to match or complete, then obviously they would have to wait until September 8th to execute it.
It would give the Pistons an extra $7.6 million of matching salary to send out in a trade, and both Prince and Harris have short-term deals that don’t extend beyond next season, so they wouldn’t be a burden for another team to take on.
It would be late in the offseason to orchestrate such a deal, but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen, though the Pistons still have more important unfinished business to take care of with Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson’s extensions.
But with no guaranteed playing time for either Prince or Harris, they might be more important as contract numbers than what they provide on the court, especially if the Pistons wanted to add another big contract.
Unlike last season, the Pistons don’t have a big expiring deal to use in a trade, so they would have to aggregate several players to match salaries, a task that will be easier with throw-away contracts like the ones Prince and Harris are on, as most teams wouldn’t have a problem just cutting these guys and eating the money.
The clock is ticking on the offseason, but the Pistons still have time to make a deal and will have more ammo to do it in a week when Prince and Harris are eligible to be traded.
Add us as a preferred source on Google