In many ways, free agent Austin Reaves would be the perfect addition to the Detroit Pistons, as he would theoretically provide the secondary shot creation and scoring that they lack.
Reaves has a player option with LA for next season that he will undoubtedly turn down in favor of more money on the open market. The Lakers can still offer more than any other team since they have his Bird Rights, so most pundits believe he'll be back in LA flanking Luka Doncic.
The dream of Reaves is nice, as he'd be a great complement to Cade Cunningham, but the harsh reality is that there are several reasons why this is unlikely to happen.
The Pistons don't have the cap space without gutting the roster
Reaves is likely to command upwards of $40 million a season, and the Pistons wouldn't have that kind of cap space unless they renounced the rights to everyone and made some cost-cutting trades.
They'd have to waive Duncan Robinson and Paul Reed, who are both on partially guaranteed contracts, and let Daniss Jenkins walk for starters, and that still wouldn't get them there. Reaves is a very good player, but that's a lot of production to replace, especially for a guy coming off a season in which he played 51 games.
There are ways Detroit could get to the money they'd need to sign Reaves as a free agent, but not without some serious roster changes. They'd then be stuck filling out their depth with minimum players, so while a top four of Cade, Ausar, Duren and Reaves sounds nice, the roster depth would take a big hit.
Reaves illustrates the problem the Pistons will run up against
All of the talk this offseason and even during the season, was how the Pistons need a second scorer and ball handler, and fans have been throwing out every star name as a possibility.
But Reaves shows just how difficult such an endeavor will be, as the Pistons will either have to trade 3-4 of their players to match a star salary, or try to find one on the open market, which would require the same financial trimming.
Teams aren't going to trade a star player for some poo-poo platter headlined by Caris LeVert, so Trajan Langdon may have to get creative to find the upgrades he needs in the form of several lesser paid players or give up all of his draft picks for someone like Trey Murphy III, whose contract is low enough to match without sending back half the roster.
Trajan Langdon will feel pressure for the first time as the Pistons' leader and needs to deliver this offseason for the Pistons to progress, though that can happen in a lot of ways and not only by trading for or signing a star.
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