Full details of John Collins contract make it a home run for the Pistons

Trajan Langdon has been careful to sign role players to dynamic deals with no long-term obligations, which happened again today with the signing of free-agent John Collins. 

Initially, I wasn’t super excited about the idea of the Pistons using cap space to sign Collins, as it will likely mean the end of Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson in Detroit. 

I was also not keen on three years, which seemed a bit steep for Collins. But as usual, the devil is in the details and this time they work in the Pistons’ favor. 

John Collins is on another Duncan Robinson deal 

When the Pistons signed Duncan Robinson to a three-year deal at this time last year, everyone had the same reaction...why? 

But we soon found out that the final two years of the contract were not fully guaranteed, and suddenly it looked like a great deal.

The same is also true of Collins' contract, which we know thanks to beat reporter Omari Sankofa II, which makes the deal a slam dunk for the Pistons.  

Just like with Robinson, the Pistons will have the ability to get out when they want to, which helps them maintain the financial flexibility Trajan Langdon is always talking about. 

It also sets up bigger moves. 

The Pistons are loading up on tradable contracts 

Detroit has been handicapped in their pursuit of a star trade by the fact that they haven’t had many tradable contracts to send back. Many of their players are still on rookie deals, so it was hard for the Pistons to stack enough matching salary. 

That’s no longer true, as the Pistons have a bunch of contracts they could pile together for a trade. With Isaiah Joe, Caris LeVert, Kevin Huerter and now Collins on board, the Pistons have over $50 million in salaries that would be easy to move or aggregate in a big deal. 

If the Pistons strike out on some of the big targets this summer, they will head into next year’s trade deadline with a bunch of short-term salaries and all of their draft picks, which is exactly what you need to land a star. 

I am certain Pistons fans don’t want to hear about next year’s trade deadline, as many are hopeful the star player they need comes way before that, but the Pistons can’t trade any of these new free agents until around then and are now set up for a big trade deadline move even if they make other trades now. 

The details of the John Collins trade make it a great one for Detroit, as they got a legit NBA starter who can shoot the 3-ball for a reasonable price with no long-term obligations, and if they need it in the future, they now have another movable contract to trade. 

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow