The Taj Gibson signing, how the Pistons allocate their $60 million-plus bounty of cap space and future All-Star games are on the menu in the latest edition of Pistons Mailbag.
Kyle (Eaton Rapids, Mich.): What’s the thinking behind signing a veteran like Taj Gibson to a 10-day contract? Usually, those contracts go to G League players, don’t they?
Langlois: You’re right about the typical use of 10-day contracts. At this time of year, especially. Teams often sign a G Leaguer to a 10-day deal and use it as a chance to get eyes on a player it might have in mind to bring into the mix for Summer League and a possible Exhibit 10 contract that essentially commits a player to training camp and, likely, a spot on the G League affiliate roster, at minimum. A 10-day contract signed in January or February is often to fill an immediate roster need if there’s been a run of injuries at a particular position. The Pistons are a little short on big men now after trading away Marvin Bagley III and buying out Mike Muscala (and Danilo Gallinari). So we’ll hear from Monty Williams prior to tonight’s game with Brooklyn – the Pistons were off on Wednesday to travel home from Miami after the completion of their road trip – and he’ll surely be asked about the Gibson signing and his plans for the veteran big man. I’m guessing the move was motivated to a significant degree by Gibson’s reputation as a consummate pro’s pro and using him as a source of knowledge for the young big men, Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart. Gibson has long been a favorite of demanding coach Tom Thibodeau. For however long Gibson is around, my bet is he’ll rub off on the young Pistons big men. Teams can sign players to two 10-day contracts, so that potentially could take Gibson to late March.
Langlois: The core group of eight has yet to play a game together, to be fair. When Quentin Grimes has played, Marcus Sasser was out. When Sasser returned, Grimes was out. Isaiah Stewart only just returned last week and the Pistons should have won in New York but for a bad call and then won at Chicago. They didn’t play very well in Orlando but had Miami, in a race to avoid the play-in tournament, on the ropes into the final minute. By any objective measure, they’re playing much better basketball over the past month or so. But your larger point stands: The Pistons will be looking to improve both the top and the bottom of the roster over the off-season and they’ll have the resources – a premium draft pick and plenty of cap space – to get it done. With the caveat that positions have never been more nebulous than they are in the moment, I think it’s fair to say that in a perfect world the Pistons would order up a wing with plus size and plus shooting ability. Those guys don’t grow on trees, though. They’re coveted by all teams because they’re not in abundant supply. One other thing to add here: Signing a free agent isn’t the only avenue to acquiring top talent. In fact, given the conditions the Pistons will find – cap space and a climate that augurs for a heavy trade volume starting around the draft and beyond – it might be more likely the Pistons make as much noise via the trade market as free agency.
@mpfirm/IG: When are you finally going to get another All-Star game in Detroit?
Langlois: The Pistons have hosted two All-Star games in their history, the first at Olympia Stadium, better known as the hockey home of the Detroit Red Wings, in 1959 and 20 years later at the Pontiac Silverdome. The Palace of Auburn Hills never hosted an All-Star game, in large measure because ownership and management for most of that time was reluctant to host and alienate season ticketholders who they feared would push back at not having easy access to tickets, which the NBA controls and allocates as it deems appropriate. Current ownership has expressed interest in hosting an All-Star game. NBA commissioner Adam Silver told a group of Pistons season ticketholders last week that Pistons ownership has conveyed interest in hosting. The fact Cleveland and Indianapolis have hosted two of the past three probably doesn’t augur well for more Midwest hosts in the immediate future. The NBA has set San Francisco (2025) and Los Angeles (2026) as the next two hosts and it’s been reported that Phoenix is in line for the 2027 game. Silver sang the praises of Indianapolis for its efforts to make the All-Star game a multi-day affair that radiated far beyond the city limits and urged Detroit to adopt a similar approach for its future bid. “It was an incredible week. For people who were there, it was a positive experience. What they did so well is make it a statewide event. How can we have everyone participate? How can we make it this sort of huge basketball festival?”
Darrell (Detroit): If the Pistons decline James Wiseman’s option next season, it will have roughly $76 million in cap space plus a top-five pick. It’s time the Pistons become a veteran team and use young talent as the second unit. I propose dangling a lot of money at D’Angelo Russell, Miles Bridges and Grayson Allen. Add them to Cunningham and Duren as starters and let Ivey, Sasser, Thompson, Stewart and the top-five pick back them up. Pistons fans have had enough of vacillating between player development and trying to win with veterans. It’s time to pick a side, preferably the latter with starting-caliber players still in their prime.
Langlois: You get a ballpark figure of about $64 million committed for next season if you look at the eight players almost certain to be back – barring their inclusion in trades, at least: Isaiah Stewart, Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Quentin Grimes, Marcus Sasser and Simone Fontecchio plus the nearly $3 million in dead money for Dewayne Dedmon. That’s including salaries for the first seven and Fontecchio’s assumed $3.9 million cap hold. They’ll also have a top-six pick, in all likelihood, which will add another significant amount. Let’s just say $10 million if they get something somewhere in the middle between 1 and 6. So let’s say $74 million is committed. The NBA in January projected the 2024-25 cap at $141 million. That would leave $67 million without Wiseman, whose qualifying offer would be roughly $15 million but whose cap hold would be twice that, or $30 million, which would seem to make a qualifying offer unlikely. If the Pistons get the No. 1 pick, it will be several million less, but if they pick sixth it would be a few million more. I would bet against the Pistons using however much cap space they take into July to acquire three starters. The unassailable truth about free agency is that you’ll overpay to get starters. My expectation is that at least a significant chunk of their cap space will be expended via trades where you take on an existing contract. It’s worth keeping the context of free agency 2024 in mind. There are going to be teams with very pressing luxury-tax concerns and, beyond that, with very real limitations on future moves if they are over the first and second aprons. There are going to be some players moved for less than what appears equal value just so the teams getting the lesser end of the talent equation can put themselves in a better place with regard to their cap structure. Teams with cap space could benefit handsomely – and no team will have more cap space than the Pistons.
@zeozz_0205/IG: Will Cade be an All-Star next season?
Langlois: Depends on two things: Does Cade take another jump and – probably even more critically – do the Pistons move themselves into playoff contention? If the Pistons are winning some games, the fans and media that vote will be more inclined to vote for him. And if they win enough more games, the coaches who fill out rosters after starters are named place even more importance on team success. Paolo Banchero made the All-Star team this season. He did so because of Orlando’s team improvement making enough of an impression on coaches to put him on their radar. It will take a similar arc for coaches to consider Cunningham an All-Star candidate. But, yeah, he certainly has the stuff to be an All-Star as soon as next winter.