Draft pick: 42
Signed for next season ($117.7m): PF Blake Griffin, C Andre Drummond, PG Reggie Jackson, PF Jon Leuer, SF Langston Galloway, PG Ish Smith, SG Stanley Johnson, SG Luke Kennard, SF Reggie Bullock, PF Henry Ellenson, PF Eric Moreland, PG Dwight Buycks
Felder and Hearn are on 2-way contracts. They're already over the salary cap, so no money for any of the other guys.
Still no word on whether they'll move on from Stan Van Gundy. Not sure how much longer his deal runs but they've hamstrung the front office for at least another year with the Blake Griffin trade last year. So do they let StanVan dangle for one more year or do they bring a new guy to get the hang of things? I don't know, not sure it makes any difference. I guess I'd keep him, give him one last shot at pulling off a miracle--the playoffs aren't out of the question with this squad--but then look for new blood as soon as the season ends.
And who do they draft at #42? I kinda doubt that Draymond Green or Manu Ginobli will be waiting there and I doubt even more than the Pistons would recognize them if they were there (in recent years they've passed on Devin Booker, Justice Winslow, Donovan Mitchell, Myles Turner, Bobby Portis, etc, etc). So it doesn't matter. I wouldn't be surprised to see them trade it for a future 2nd rounder (could happen) but they do need low cost players so maybe they try to do something with Shake Milton (SMU) or Mo Wagner (Michigan), two guys that have had some buzz about them and could still be available.
With possibly no coach, possibly no Prez of basketball operations, possibly not even a GM and certainly no money to spend (and still two more years of paying Josh Smith), hard to see how the Pistons make a splash in the free agency market this summer. Indeed, if anyone shows the slightest interest in Jon Leuer or Ish Smith, I think they can be had for a coupla cartons of cigarettes. They are married to Blake Griffin, Reggie Jax and Andre Drummond for the next 2-3 years and I don't see that core as a contender any time soon. Time for a "process"!
For now: well, they've got an expensive core that they can work with. They could compete for a playoff spot but hard to imagine them going deep. What they've got now is what they're likely to have next October (with or without StanVan) and while this isn't bad, it's not anything special in the East. The bed is made, coupla more years of lying in it til something happens.
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