Big free-agent whiff for the Detroit Pistons last offseason

The biggest criticism of Troy Weaver this season is that he did nothing to improve the Detroit Pistons last summer.

Instead of trying to sign a meaningful free agent or two to put around his core, Monty Williams traded for the corpse of Joe Harris and veteran point guard Monte Morris. Neither player contributed anything to the Pistons and both were jettisoned at the trade deadline.

Weaver put way too much faith in the internal development of his young players, as well as washed veterans Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks, who he practically had to give away at the trade deadline.

The worst part is that there were free agents out there who could have helped Detroit, and while they weren't going to land a star, they could have hit on value players who could contribute to a winning team, some of whom ended up on minimum deals while the Pistons paid Joe Harris $20 million to be unable to crack the rotation of the worst team in basketball.

The Detroit Pistons in free agency

One such free agent was forward Kelly Oubre Jr. who found himself without a job as the season approached. He took a one-year minimum deal to play for the Philadelphia 76ers which ended up being one of the best value contracts in the league.

Oubre Jr. has averaged 15 points and five rebounds per game for Philly and is a big reason why they are still in the playoff race even though they've had several key injuries.

Philly has won five straight to climb within a game of Indiana for the final guaranteed playoff spot and Oubre Jr. has been on fire, averaging 23.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.0 assists during the streak.

But his hot shooting goes back to the beginning of March, as Oubre Jr. has averaged 19.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his last 20 games.

The Detroit Pistons desperately could have used a consistent scoring option from the wing position and at this point, they could just use healthy bodies.

It's not like Oubre Jr. was going to make or break the Pistons' season but he's another example of their failure in free agency, as just about any team could have had a valuable player on a minimum deal.

Oubre Jr. made $2.8 million this season, far less than Joe Harris, Evan Fournier, James Wiseman, Troy Brown Jr., Malachi Flynn and about the same as Marcus Sasser and/or Quentin Grimes. The Pistons wasted so much money this season, it's a wonder Tom Gores can even keep the lights on (that's a joke, he's obscenely rich).

This is one of the reasons the Pistons keep getting worse, as they haven't added any impact veterans (except Simone Fontecchio, who has barely played) or taken any chances on free agents who could actually still play.

So Kelly Oubre Jr. is good enough to start 49 games for a title contender, but not good enough to come off the bench of the worst team in the NBA. Got it.