Stopgap Solution Can Lead To Major 2024 Summer For Detroit Pistons

It’s no secret the Detroit Pistons are in the early stages of a full-on rebuild centered around guard Cade Cunningham. While the 6’6 playmaker has struggled producing efficient offense this season, there’s clear potential for stardom moving forward, as he’s projected to finish second in the Rookie Of the Year race.

Besides, efficiency might not be the best evaluation tool this season when looking at the Pistons. Saddiq Bey, fresh off his 51-point performance against the Orlando Magic, remains a sub-40% shooter for the year, connecting on just 39.8% of his shots.

In fact, only one player on the roster is hitting over 50% from the field (Isaiah Stewart), with the caveat that Marvin Bagley (54.2%) has only played 11 games for the franchise. The Pistons rank dead-last in the NBA in eFG, sporting a miserable mark of just 49.1% this season.

The need for reliable veterans

It may seem counterintuitive for a rebuilding club to seek out veterans. For the Pistons, however, they aren’t yet so fully loaded at each position to necessarily block prospects from playing time, and that’s even taking into account the 2022 NBA draft.

The Pistons should be looking ahead to free agency to find veteran shooters, who can help provide much-needed spacing, as well as the necessary driving lanes for Cunningham and Bey to operate.

Of course, constructing the right contract does matter, as the Pistons has to be smart about their long-term financial flexibility.

Signing an older veteran like Otto Porter to a full four-year contract isn’t going to optimize Detroit’s cap sheet, as Bey is looking at an extension after next season, and the Pistons will be on the clock to get a big name in before Cunningham is up for one as well.

As such, identifying veteran shooters and offering them two-year deals could be a smart approach, even if they have to inflate the salaries over those two years.

Porter, who might command the full non-tax MLE this offseason, could perhaps be swayed by a two-year deal paying in the area of $15 million per year, almost getting the full worth of the MLE over two less seasons. That might seem expensive, but there’s little risk in acquiring short-term deals for the Pistons, especially as they begin to slowly pivot from rebuilding to playing competitive basketball.

Shooting is not the lone issue for Detroit, but it’s clearly an area that – if resolved – could have a significant ripple effect on the team, leading to surges in efficiency from both Cunningham and Bey, two of the most vital pieces moving forward, not including Detroit’s 2022 draft selection.

Maintaining financial flexibility

As is the case with most rebuilding teams, there comes a point before the majority of the team’s young players are on their second contracts where their modest cap hits work as an advantage. Usually, that’s the point to strike while the iron is hot, as to not let the crop of rookie contracts go from cheap assets to filling up the cap sheet.

For the Pistons, that year is 2024 should Bey be a restricted free agent at the time. Let’s get into how.

Bey’s qualifying offer is only $6.5 million that season, which is substantially less than what he’d get on the open market. That works in Detroit’s favor, if they time the expiration date of 2022 contracts to the 2024 offseason, arming themselves with considerable cap space.

The Pistons could use cap space to sign a small squadron of upgrades, and go over the cap to re-sign Bey afterwards, while not letting Bey’s contractual status affect the amount of money they have available.

(Note: If Bey signs an extension in 2023, his qualifying offer will be replaced by his actual agreed-upon salary.)

But in order for the Pistons to make themselves attractive to free agents by 2024, they’ll need to show improvements from where they are now, hence the need for veterans to help push the team into more wins and develop a more competitive reputation.

As such, spending money on a short-term solution to help achieve a long-term goal would be in the team’s best interest.