The Detroit Pistons have been busy in free agency, and not every move has landed with the same weight. After a 60-win regular season and the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, Detroit entered the offseason with real momentum - and with it, a tougher question: have these additions done enough to push the team closer to title contention?
One of the biggest changes came when veteran Tobias Harris left for the San Antonio Spurs. Detroit answered by bringing in Los Angeles Clippers forward John Collins on a three-year, $51 million deal.
Collins is younger than Harris and arrives as a clear attempt to fill that spot in the rotation. Last season with the Clippers, he put up 13.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assist per game while shooting 55.2 percent from the field.
Collins brings the kind of profile the Pistons can use. He’s efficient on the glass, can stretch the floor, and gives Cade Cunningham a lob target who can finish plays above the rim. It wasn’t the splash some fans were hoping for, but it does keep Detroit competitive in what should be an improved Eastern Conference.
The Pistons also got more shooting help in a six-team trade that sent forward Caris LeVert to the Milwaukee Bucks. Coming back in that deal were forward Taurean Prince and former Michigan State guard Gary Harris.
Prince looks like the more important piece of the two. He shot 43.6 percent from three last season with the Bucks and averaged 9.2 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. For a team trying to clean up its perimeter shooting, that matters.
Gary Harris is a different story. The former Michigan State standout is entering his 13th NBA season, and his role in Detroit will be worth watching. He hasn’t averaged more than 10 points per game since 2021-22 with the Orlando Magic, and last season with the Bucks he averaged 2.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, and 1.1 assists per game.
That trade looked more like a move to open up cap space than a pure basketball swing. What Detroit does with that flexibility is the real question, whether that means extending star center Jalen Duren or using it somewhere else.
The Pistons did make one other addition before free agency began, acquiring Oklahoma City guard Isaiah Joe in a trade. But as the final stages of free agency approach, the bigger issue remains the same: time is ticking if Detroit wants to land the dream co-star for Cunningham that so many fans are still waiting on.
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Pistons Cannot Afford Another Contract Mess With Ausar Thompson
Ausar Thompson is eligible for a contract extension before next season, and the Pistons already have one expensive reminder of what happens when these talks drag on. Detroit is still dealing with Jalen Durens restricted free agency this summer, which has turned into the kind of waiting game the front office would prefer not to repeat with another young cornerstone. Thompsons value is obvious enough to make an early deal appealing, especially for a team trying to lock in its core before the market gets a chance to do the talking.
The concern is not just about timing, either. Thompsons defensive impact has already made him one of Detroits most important players, and his playoff work only reinforced how hard he can make life for opposing offenses. If the Pistons let this drift into restricted free agency, they could be inviting a far more complicated bidding environment than they faced with Duren, particularly if rival teams start projecting even more upside on both ends of the floor. [Read more 🡒]
Jalen Duren May Be Running Out Of Leverage With The Pistons
Jalen Durens restricted free agency has settled into a familiar kind of summer standoff, with Detroit trying to balance the value of a young center against the realities of the new cap environment. The Pistons want to keep him in the fold, but the front office is also operating with an eye on the broader roster picture, where every major commitment can ripple into future decisions.
Durens case is complicated by the way his season ended, because the strongest version of his argument came in the regular season, not in the playoffs. Detroit also has other priorities to preserve flexibility for, which makes this less about whether Duren matters and more about how much room the Pistons are willing to surrender to keep him long term. [Read more 🡒]