2 Moves that look genius, 1 that looks suspect for the Detroit Pistons

Tim Hardaway Jr. is a waste of money 

I wasn’t happy about this move when the Pistons made it and am even less so now. If the Pistons had just taken THJ’s expiring on for three second-round picks, fine, but they sent back a decent player in Quentin Grimes, which made absolutely no sense, as the Mavs were desperate to get off THJ’s deal. 

I feel like the Pistons should have gotten more. 

I pivoted when thinking, well, maybe THJ can still play and will be energized by playing in front of his hometown fans. So far, not so much, as he is 1-of-16 from 3-point range and has been awful on both ends. 

This is the kind of move Troy Weaver made every year, and when you are in the early stages of a rebuild it makes sense. But the Pistons are trying to get out of that mode, so why waste $16 million in cap space that could have been used for.....wait for it.... SIGNING A GOOD PLAYER WHO HELPS THE TEAM WIN GAMES! (sorry for the caps). 

Who knows, maybe THJ will rebound from this horrific start, as he does have a long career of evidence that he can shoot a basketball. But right now, this looks like Joe Harris 2.0, a guy who is eating up a sizeable chunk of cap space to sit on the bench. 

I rationalized this by thinking the Pistons could flip him for more second-round picks at the trade deadline, and maybe they’ll be able to, but if not, they wasted a roster spot when they could have upgraded their depth. 

It’s only preseason, so it’s too early to write off a guy who has had a long, successful NBA career, but right now this move isn’t looking great for Detroit. We’ll have to hope that Trajan Langdon finds a player with one of those second-round picks, and he does have a history of doing just that.