The Detroit Pistons have one of the cleanest cap sheets in the NBA.
The Pistons teeam payroll doesn’t have a contract that immediately jumps out as horrible, as their veterans are all on reasonable and/or short-term deals and most of the rest of the roster is still on rookie deals.
Team building is not only about finding players who complement each other on the floor, but making the financial numbers work, as you need players who can contribute at various price points.
An impact player on a lowball deal is one of the best commodities in the NBA and the Pistons do have a couple of those.
They also have a couple of questionable deals based purely on hope. Here are the two best and two worst contracts the Pistons currently have.
Best contract #1: Malik Beasley, 1 year/$6 million
I loved this deal when it was signed for a couple of reasons. The first is that Beasley fills a need as an elite high-volume shooter from 3-point range, something the Pistons did not have.
Beasley has shot around 40 percent from long range over the last four seasons combined on between seven and 8.7 attempts per game.
Beasley is only 27-years-old, so if he works out and is happy in Detroit, they could bring him back on a longer contract with a similar annual value.
The second reason this is a great deal is that it’s a value, expiring contract for a guy who does something every contending team needs, which is knock down 3-point shots.
Beasley may not be a household name but he’s going to be all over the trade rumors at the deadline next season and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if the Pistons end up with a bidding war, as there aren’t many better players in that price range who are on expiring deals.
The Pistons may end up squeezing a late or protected first-round pick out of someone, and if not, they can almost certainly get a second-round pick or even two.
This was a great signing by Trajan Langdon that should help the Pistons now and into the future regardless of what they do with Beasley.