John Collins signing means important Pistons could be shown the door

The Detroit Pistons signed free-agent power forward John Collins to a three-year deal that will pay him $17 million annually. 

I originally thought the Pistons may have been able to use the mid-level exception to slot him in, but that per year number is a couple of million higher than the projected $15 million MLE. 

That means one of two things: Either the Pistons are operating as a cap space team, or they will land Collins as part of a sign-and-trade with the Clippers. The latter seems less likely, which means the Pistons are saying goodbye to some key players. 

Tobias Harris and Duncan Robinson could be gone 

I already wrote about how the Collins signing will affect Harris, but if the Pistons use cap space to sign Collins, Harris is all but gone. 

Detroit will have to renounce their cap holds on both Harris and likely Duncan Robinson in order to get the cap space to sign Collins, which could spell the end for two important parts of the Pistons’ 60-win season. 

It’s still possible this is a sign and trade, so we’ll have to wait for the details, but there has been no mention of it so far, which means the Pistons are likely going the cap space route and saying goodbye to two veterans. 

Harris and Robinson are important but have their flaws 

I’d love to bring back Harris in a platoon role with Collins, a possibility that now seems less likely, though Detroit may still be able to work something out. 

Losing Duncan Robinson would be less painful now that they have a younger version of him in Isaiah Joe, who actually shot a higher percentage than Robinson from long range last season. 

But is there a law that the Pistons can only have one good shooter at a time? It’s possible they feel signing Kevin Huerter and Collins and trading for Joe is more than enough to offset the loss of Robinson, who was a defensive liability in the playoffs at times. 

I did not expect Trajan Langdon to jettison this many of the key players from a team that was the top seed in the Eastern Conference this season, but if both Harris and Robinson are gone, and with Stewart already out the door, we are looking at a big culture shift and we haven’t even got to the big move or Jalen Duren. 

Speaking of Duren, it’s possible the Pistons will end up with cap space if he tries to force his way to the Lakers, who could offer Detroit a bunch of draft picks and a big salary slot without sending back any expensive players. That would certainly be one way to clear cap space for Collins. 

It’s more likely the two things aren’t connected, but the Collins signing is going to necessitate other painful moves. 

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