How Detroit Can Maximize Their Offseason
The Piston Podcast: Roster Deep Dive
The Detroit Pistons, despite winning just 23 games this past season, have one of the strongest young cores in the entire NBA and will look to add to that during the draft this Summer.
Multiple rooks (who are no longer rookies) from the 2021 draft class immediately made an impact in the league, including the likes of Rookie of the Year Scottie Barnes (although we all know Barnes winning over Cunningham is a worse robbery then a 5 star GTA heist), Evan Mobley, and Pistons number 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham. The last few draft classes have given the NBA shining young stars who continue to blossom in the league, and the 2022 class appears to be no exception.
Three forwards sit on the top of most draft boards including; Auburn’s Jabari Smith, Duke’s Paulo Banchero, and Gonzaga’s Chet Holgrem. The Detroit Pistons have equally high odds as the Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets to obtain the number 1 pick through the draft lottery and get first dibs on the college star they believe can help shape the future of this franchise alongside Cade Cunningham and Sadiq Bey.
Since 1980, four NBA franchises have won back-to-back lotteries and obtained two number one overall picks. Two of those franchises (The Cavs and Rockets) won NBA championships, while one (The Magic) made a finals appearance. After over a decade of mediocre basketball at its finest, the Pistons have put themselves in a what seems like can’t lose position. However, before the draft Detroit needs to seriously look at their roster and ask themselves who is apart of building a championship team and who is not.
The purpose of the Piston Podcast is to discuss the reasons behind keeping, trading, or letting players walk away in free agency. After such an unsuccessful season, it’s very clear the organization needs to prioritize surrounding Cade Cunningham with more talent around him (if the Rookie of the Year Award controversy didn’t make that clear enough), and that starts by making some personnel changes.
The Roster
Marvin Bagley III
Outside of making sure they draft the right person to play alongside Cade Cunninham, Piston’s General Manager Troy Weaver’s biggest priority of the offseason should be bringing back Marvin Bagley.
After Troy Weaver did some addition by subtraction by flipping Trey Lyles for Marvin Bagley III (which was like trading a bag of Doritos for Bitcoin stock) the Pistons quickly realized how poor Sacramento is at developing players and how much of an investment holding onto Bagley could be. The former second overall pick is just 23 years old and still has not found his ceiling in this league.
Fortunately for the Pistons, the former Duke Blue Devil played poorly for the first three and a half years of his career before joining the Pistons and instantly averaging five more points a game! Meaning the new contract he’s eligible for should be cheap.
Bagley’s estimated value is about 10 million dollars per year. For a 23 year old player who is still finding his role in this league, this is a very team friendly deal. Plus, Bagley looked the best he ever did in his career playing next to Cunningham in Detroit, meaning he should have no desire to play for any other team, especially after the very shaky start to his career (insert one more shot at the Kings organization here).
Bagley is a restricted free agent, meaning any team can offer him a contract but since he is still technically on his rookie deal, the Pistons can match other teams’ offers and he has to stay with Detroit. There’s no reason the Pistons shouldnt make it a priority to bring one of their core young players.
10/10 interest to bring back.
Jerami Grant
Oh Jerami Grant. Just a short few months ago it was believed Jerami Grant could be flipped for multiple first round picks and a few young players. Heading into the summer it’s now very unclear what the market for Jerami Grant will look like.
The 27 year old had a very poor year in comparison to 2021. Grant’s scoring was down nearly four points per game while he just played 47 games. But the numbers aren’t the real crime for Grant.
The former Syracuse Orange failed to realize and accept his role on the team. Playing with someone like Cade Cunningham can allow players to get off much more open shots theoretically increasing their scoring on less shots. Unfortunately for Grant and the Pistons, he continued to act as the highest paid player of the team and continuously took the ball away from our young stars just for him to take a long contested two.
Jerami Grant has openly spoken about wanting to be the best player on a championship team. The only thing the Pistons have won since Grant has been our “best player” is the draft lottery. Grant could be a great contributor on a championship team but certainly not the best.
Grant isn’t an old player by any means, being just 27 and theoretically entering his “prime.” But the Pistons definitely overpaid for him when we initially gave him a contract the Summer of 2020. The Gold Medalist is set to make 21 million dollars this season, another path to hurdle when trying to trade him.
The Pistons should not mess around and wait until the deadline to try and trade Grant this season like we did last season. Teams always overvalue their own guys and that’s not something Detroit can afford to do with someone who has an expiring contract after this upcoming season. If they get the chance this Summer, they should pull the trigger, even if it’s for less than initially thought. Regardless, it’s better than keeping him around this year and letting him walk next Summer in return for nothing.
6.7/10 Interest to bring back.
Overlook
Without a doubt the Pistons have one of, if not the, best young cores in the NBA without even considering this upcoming draft pick they are about to add to their roster. There is still a lot of time before there are actually championship aspirations in Detroit, but that shouldn’t stop Troy Weaver from continuously building up from the foundation.
The Pistons will have an estimated 30 million dollars in free agency this Summer, ranking in the top five teams with the most money to spend. However, that doesnt mean the Pistons should go on any spending spree. Great GMs don’t spend all their money at once. And with the Pistons hitting on back-to-back-to-back drafts(assuming our pick this Summer isn’t a bust), eventually we are going to pay these young players the money they deserve. Pistons General Manager established himself as a great GM in this league by drafting James Harden, Russel Westbrook, and Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City and forming one of the best young teams the NBA has ever seen. There’s no reason to beleive he’ll change his forte and start giving out bags to undeserving free agents. Role players are what Detroit should be looking for this offseason.
Since taking over as GM in early 2020, Troy Weaver has built a strong foundation by hitting on draft picks like Cade Cunningham and Sadiq Bey, along with landing a former second overall pick, Marvin Bagley III, whose career is far too young to call anything close to a bust. Weaver has been excellent, and Pistons fans should have full faith in him to continue to make the correct moves.
For more insight on the roster, listen to the Pistons Podcast in the description of this story.
