One of the biggest questions around the Detroit Pistons this summer is which of their four free agents they will bring back.
Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., Dennis Schroder and Paul Reed are all free agents this offseason, and the Pistons have to thread the needle of continuity while still addressing roster needs such as power forward depth and shooting.
Beasley seems the most certain to return, as the Pistons have several paths to retaining him and there has been interest expressed by both sides.
Tim Hardaway Jr. was good in his role last season, but the Pistons may be able to upgrade his spot with a better defender or someone who offers more versatility offensively.
Same with Dennis Schroder, who was great for the Pistons, but may be an expensive luxury if they can replace his production at a discount.
Finding value contracts like Malik Beasley was this season will be a crucial team building strategy in the new tax era, so the Pistons could look to replace Schroder with someone making significantly less.
Detroit Pistons free agency: De’Anthony Melton
De’Anthony Melton is a guy who has significant upside as a bench guard and may be available for cheap after missing most of the season with a torn ACL.
That’s a tough surgery to come back from, so there would be some amount of risk, but Melton could potentially be had for five times less than Schroder and provide many of the same things.
Melton is a shoot-first guard who can also make some plays from the wing. He’s definitely not a pure point guard, but he can make plays and averages just under three assists per game for his career.
He’s been a double-digit scorer for most of his career and is a guy who is going to give you around 37 percent from 3-point range on around 5-6 attempts per game.
The Pistons want to run it back as much as possible, but there are areas where they could tighten up so that they can spend money elsewhere, specifically on the forward position, which has little depth.
Melton would be a low-risk/high-reward guy given his likely salary and would give the Pistons another established 3-point shooter who is also a good rebounder for his size.
I am Dennis Schroder’s biggest fan, but paying a guy upwards of $10 million per season to be a backup guard is not a great use of resources when the Pistons have needs elsewhere.