NBA Free Agency: How much money can the Detroit Pistons spend?

Share Tweet Pin

It’s always dangerous to look at Troy Weaver’s moves in a vacuum, but for the sake of argument let’s say that Trader Troy is done wheeling and dealing as the GM for the Detroit Pistons.

Let’s at least pretend that the six players he’s added via the draft and trades are here to stay. Let’s even go so far as to pretend this is the roster the Pistons will have on opening night and start to build a rotation. It will at least help us assess what that next Weaver move might be as the team prepares for the start of free agency on Thursday.

For any confused Pistons fans, I know you have questions. They are probably as follows: What the heck just happened? How much money does Detroit have left? How is this going to work? What’s next? Why, God, why?

We will take those one at a time.

What the Heck Just Happened?

Weaver’s one big move is actually broken up into three component parts (so far). He traded Jerami Grant before the draft for a 2025 Milwaukee Bucks first-rounder and a jump in the second round from the 40s and into the 36th pick.

On NBA Draft night, he was part of a complicated three-team deal with the New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets that netted Detroit the 13th pick, which was used to select Jalen Duren, and Kemba Walker.

On Tuesday night, Weaver re-engaged with the Knicks on a separate deal that saw Detroit receive Nerlens Noel and Alec Burks, two future second-round picks (including Detroit’s own 2023 pick that was traded away way back in 2018 for Khyri Thomas) and $6 million in exchange for nothing.

Though that’s not really true. They likely technically will receive the $20 million traded player exception Detroit received from Portland in the Grant deal. That appeals to the Knicks because they want to clear space and take nothing back in return so they can sign Jalen Brunson to a deal they will likely end up regretting.

A traded player exception cannot be traded along with players which is why this is being set up as two separate transactions.

How Much Money Does Detroit Have Left?

The Pistons entered the offseason with the NBA’s most cap space, and that ballooned to as much as $55 million once the Grant trade was made. But after all this dust settles, the Pistons will have roughly $23 million, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Of course, that doesn’t factor in the inevitable new contract for Marvin Bagley III who is widely expected to return to Detroit on a new multi-year deal.

For the sake of argument, we will give Bagley a starting salary of $8 million next season. Let’s even be bold and say that the $6 million in cash from the Knicks represents Kemba’s buyout number. That means Detroit gets an extra $3 million back. That would leave $18 million to spend in free agency, and the Pistons would have 14 players under contract and only one roster spot to fill.

How is This Going to Work?

Wow, this is a tough question. The short answer is it probably doesn’t. The slightly longer answer is it so clearly doesn’t that it means there are more moves on the horizon. And the galaxy brain answer is Weaver thinks it can work well enough and is willing to trot out this lineup next season come what may.

We can start thinking about rotations, but even figuring out who your starters are going to be is a bit tough. First, the team has a giant crater where it’s power forward spot used to be and second, they just trade for a traditional center and are about to sign Bagley to a multi-year deal, and his best position is center, and that’s just two years removed from drafting Isaiah Stewart, who started all 71 games he played last season.

We will just rip the band-aide off and come…