The Detroit Pistons will be active in all stages of the offseason, from the draft, to trades to free agency, this should be a busy summer for the NBA’s worst team.
Free agency has become a tricky endeavor over the last few seasons, as changes to the CBA make it easier for teams to retain stars, which means fewer of them are hitting the market.
That leaves a lot of role players in free agency, and with many teams bidding for their services, they often get overpaid.
It’s just the nature of the game now, ask Tobias Harris, who has collectedmore money than any non-All-Star in NBA history by virtue of being a free agent at the right time.
It could happen for him again this offseason, when the pickings are slim and he’s one of the top names available again.
But the Pistons could go another route, seek out their star in a trade and use free agency to find role players and value contracts. Here are three players the Pistons might be able to buy low on this summer.
Detroit Pistons free agency: Buy-low targets
Max Christie
Most Pistons fans will be familiar with Christie from his one year at Michigan State, where he averaged just under 10 points per game as a freshman. He was drafted by the Lakers in the second round and hasn’t seen much action in two years, playing just 14 minutes per game in 67 appearances this season.
Christie is known as a quality defender with a sweet jump shot, who also has good size for a two guard at 6-foot-6. He shot over 41 percent from 3-point range as a rookie on a low number of attempts and hit just under 36 percent this season.
Christie is a restricted free agent and the Lakers have limited cap space, so if the Pistons wanted to steal him, they probably could. He’d be in line for the Isaiah Livers job (hopefully with better results) as a minimum 3-and-D guy off the bench. Christie is still only 21, so might be worth a flyer on a minimum deal, as he does have some of the skills the Pistons will seek this summer.