You might get waived, but in Detroit, you’re never truly gone. Such is the case with two players who were recently let go by the Pistons, and one could have the potential to significantly impact the team’s play and rotation next season.
After seeing his $12.6 million option declined, word is Cory Joseph is expected to sign a new deal with Detroit to serve as the team’s veteran point guard joining a rotation that includes Killian Hayes, Saben Lee and No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham.
The Pistons are on the hook for $2.4 million to Joseph already and any new deal signed with Detroit would likely still see him make much less than that $12.6 million.
Another player waived by the Pistons, Deividas Sirvydis, is owed his full $1.5 million salary by the Pistons, and will play with the PIstons’ Summer League team. It’s unclear if this is simply doing a solid to Sirvydis while he looks to catch the eye of other teams including those overseas, or if the team wants to try and tuck him away, potentially on a two-way contract, without him counting on the official roster.
Other free agency rumblings involving the Pistons include Detroit being linked to a couple former Toronto Raptors from back in the Casey era. Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report reports that DeMar DeRozan could be linked to Detroit in a reunion with Casey. Another former Casey player on Detroit’s radar is apparently Norman Powell, Fischer reports.
The Pistons have been linked to a few high-priced shooting guards in the past 48 hours (other names tossed around have been Tim Hardaway Jr and, to a lesser extent, Malik Monk, but I’m less convinced there is any validity there).
The ramifications of adding a 28-minute-per game shooting guard would have interesting ramifications up and down the roster. Would it mean Cunningham begins his career off the bench? Would it mean Cunningham is a small forward or point guard, and what would that mean for Saddiq Bey or Hayes? Does this mean the Pistons are less likely to commit to a new long-term deal to restricted free agent Hamidou Diallo or is he still in the plans?
Another name getting connected more frequently to Detroit is stretch big man Kelly Olynyk. Olynyk and Detroit are linked by Fischer, as well as John Hollinger in The Athletic. Olynyk is allegedly looking for a deal in the $10-$12 million range, so he would certainly not come cheap.
In Detroit, he would provide a spacing option not offered by the now departed Mason Plumlee, and also showed additional scoring and playmaking skills during a brief stint in Houston.
The Pistons have roughly $16 million available in free agency and could create a little more than $20 million if they wanted to get back in the stretch and waive game on the deals for Joseph and Sirvydis.