Free Agency

[theBigLip]

Miami may be at a crossroads. They could go in a lot of different directions. If they make a run for cap space, trades like this could happen.

Unless Butler opts out, Riley and company would enter the offseason with only about $10 million of cap space even if they were to dump Robinson, let go of all non-guaranteed salary, renounce all cap holds, and be without a first-round pick (through conveyance to OKC or via another trade), in which event they'd also have only eight players under contract plus a second-round pick.

Robinson isn't a starter-quality small forward either unless you're Spoelstra, so it's a moot point. He'd provide poor value against his salary here.

Disagree w this one. Robinson has had his ups and downs, but he is certainly a starter. Sure he isn’t athletic enough to be great on D, but he’s smart enough to play good team D. And he’s one of the better shooters in the league.

[Crymson]

They could go in a lot of different directions.

Like what?

Disagree w this one. Robinson has had his ups and downs, but he is certainly a starter. Sure he isn’t athletic enough to be great on D, but he’s smart enough to play good team D. And he’s one of the better shooters in the league.

Robinson is a bad defender whom Spoelstra is an expert at hiding on defense, just as he's an expert at extracting every last ounce of what Robinson can offer on offense. And he started only about half of his games last season. Yes, he's an excellent shooter, but Heat role players rarely perform so well away from Spoelstra -- put Robinson on another team and he's likely to contribute a lot less value than he does for the Heat.

[bstein14]

They could go in a lot of different directions.

Like what?

Disagree w this one. Robinson has had his ups and downs, but he is certainly a starter. Sure he isn’t athletic enough to be great on D, but he’s smart enough to play good team D. And he’s one of the better shooters in the league.

Robinson is a bad defender whom Spoelstra is an expert at hiding on defense, just as he's an expert at extracting every last ounce of what Robinson can offer on offense. And he started only about half of his games last season. Yes, he's an excellent shooter, but Heat role players rarely perform so well away from Spoelstra -- put Robinson on another team and he's likely to contribute a lot less value than he does for the Heat.

Duncan Robinson is over 30 now and I feel like he's a solid player but he's certainly overpaid. IMO he's a similar tier of player that Font is at this point.... he has more experience and if the money was the same I could see a lot of teams choosing Robinson over Font but with the money each is making I think I'd rather have Font for sure, especially considering he's 2 years younger as well.

[Canadafan]

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cap/_/year/2024/sort/cap_maximum_space

Well, there it is. We are officially the lowest salary in the league.
I promised to not post but I just can't help myself
We should help Fultz out and give him a chunk of our 8mil exemption. Poor kid deserves a break and we could let him be our 3rd PG with no pressure. Let him get his shot respectable with our shooting coach.
Then give Biyombo a chunk to be our vet mentor big man to mostly guide our starter Duren on how to play defense.
Then! Then at the deadline use a combo of our 10mil in cap space with Beasley and/or THJr and/or Reed to add to our core of;
Duren Stew
Tobias Fontecchio Ausar
Cade Ivey Holland Fultz

Michael Porter Jr, Norman Powell or Duncan Robinson could be targets to save those teams some immediate cap, long term cap and give them some depth for one guy

[Crymson]

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cap/_/year/2024/sort/cap_maximum_space

Well, there it is. We are officially the lowest salary in the league.

Yep. It's very rare for a team to enter a season with any cap space at all. The Pistons are, as things stand, heading into next season with eight figures of it.

I promised to not post but I just can't help myself

Why make that promise?

We should help Fultz out and give him a chunk of our 8mil exemption. Poor kid deserves a break and we could let him be our 3rd PG with no pressure. Let him get his shot respectable with our shooting coach.

The Pistons have cap space, so the Room MLE doesn't apply right now; exceptions (short for "salary cap exceptions") apply only when they'll take a team above the cap line (and though this is a moot point in this case, the Room MLE can't be split between players like the TP/NTP-MLE can).

Fultz's issues aren't limited to just his shooting -- He also just cannot stay healthy.

Then give Biyombo a chunk to be our vet mentor big man to mostly guide our starter Duren on how to play defense.

Biyombo has never been a strong defender. More like average. And the impact of mentorship is overrated anyway. If Duren has adequate defensive acumen and rediscovers his rookie work ethic, then the coaching staff can develop him into at least a solid defender. If he doesn't, then nobody can. And if he doesn't drastically improve his defensive work ethic over what it was last season, then he's never going to be a solid defender.

Then! Then at the deadline use a combo of our 10mil in cap space with Beasley and/or THJr and/or Reed to add to our core of;
Duren Stew
Tobias Fontecchio Ausar
Cade Ivey Holland Fultz

It would be more like $6 million at that point unless one or both were on non-guaranteed minimum deals.

Michael Porter Jr, Norman Powell or Duncan Robinson could be targets to save those teams some immediate cap, long term cap and give them some depth for one guy

MPJ is highly unlikely to be going anywhere unless commensurate value is sent back in return; the Nuggets would be unable to replace his contribution. Robinson isn't worth $18 million to this team. Powell provides good value on his salary, and the Clippers will have a reasonably clean cap sheet next season.

[Canadafan]

^^^^ah yes. So just the cap space is available, got ya.
I guess at this point we're set up with lots of flexibility to do something before the trade deadline then

[chrbal]

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cap/_/year/2024/sort/cap_maximum_space

Well, there it is. We are officially the lowest salary in the league.
I promised to not post but I just can't help myself
We should help Fultz out and give him a chunk of our 8mil exemption. Poor kid deserves a break and we could let him be our 3rd PG with no pressure. Let him get his shot respectable with our shooting coach.
Then give Biyombo a chunk to be our vet mentor big man to mostly guide our starter Duren on how to play defense.
Then! Then at the deadline use a combo of our 10mil in cap space with Beasley and/or THJr and/or Reed to add to our core of;
Duren Stew
Tobias Fontecchio Ausar
Cade Ivey Holland Fultz

Michael Porter Jr, Norman Powell or Duncan Robinson could be targets to save those teams some immediate cap, long term cap and give them some depth for one guy

If Fultz could stay healthy OR shoot relatively well from anywhere on the court that’s not the free throw line, he’d be a great pickup.

I’d maybe give him a camp contract at this point and see if he can do enough to make it. But I honestly wouldn’t be surprised to see him start the season off in the g league, or more likely overseas.

[bstein14]

Lots of teams have 16 to 18 players and will have to make cuts, so I like us just rolling into the pre-season with 14 guys we can always pick up some guys on 10 days and keep our flexibility. I wanted to go after Tyus Jones, but at this point with who's left it doesn't make sense to spend unless the Cavs renounce Okoro. We are just above the minimum so no need to spend unless something happens where it makes sense to give up our flexability. I'm not surprised at all we didn't spend the extra $19 million we could have spent when actual good players were available its kind of been this team's motive for a while just save money wherever we can, take money on trades, etc. Also, we've been punished for wasting large amounts of cap space on players like THjr or worse and then not having actual good NBA depth and being forced to play non NBA level guys in our rotation.

[theBigLip]

We have good contracts and a better roster talent wise than last year. We’re in a good spot with some cap flexibility and a roster spot. We can easily pick up a good prospect or just wait until the trade deadline. I’m ok going in w the lineup we have.

[Invictus88]

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cap/_/year/2024/sort/cap_maximum_space

Well, there it is. We are officially the lowest salary in the league.
I promised to not post but I just can't help myself
We should help Fultz out and give him a chunk of our 8mil exemption. Poor kid deserves a break and we could let him be our 3rd PG with no pressure. Let him get his shot respectable with our shooting coach.
Then give Biyombo a chunk to be our vet mentor big man to mostly guide our starter Duren on how to play defense.
Then! Then at the deadline use a combo of our 10mil in cap space with Beasley and/or THJr and/or Reed to add to our core of;
Duren Stew
Tobias Fontecchio Ausar
Cade Ivey Holland Fultz

Michael Porter Jr, Norman Powell or Duncan Robinson could be targets to save those teams some immediate cap, long term cap and give them some depth for one guy

You are the target audience of the wall of random knick-knacks I see checking out at a grocery store. It all makes sense now.

[Crymson]

We have good contracts and a better roster talent wise than last year. We’re in a good spot with some cap flexibility and a roster spot. We can easily pick up a good prospect or just wait until the trade deadline. I’m ok going in w the lineup we have.

I'd have liked more depth at point guard and an athletic big and third-string center, but I agree that the roster should be considerably better (and better-coached) than last season's. The mere presence of an adequate quantity of shooting, a better balance between veterans and youth, no reclamation projects, and no Killian should make a substantial difference.

[Canadafan]

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/cap/_/year/2024/sort/cap_maximum_space

Well, there it is. We are officially the lowest salary in the league.
I promised to not post but I just can't help myself
We should help Fultz out and give him a chunk of our 8mil exemption. Poor kid deserves a break and we could let him be our 3rd PG with no pressure. Let him get his shot respectable with our shooting coach.
Then give Biyombo a chunk to be our vet mentor big man to mostly guide our starter Duren on how to play defense.
Then! Then at the deadline use a combo of our 10mil in cap space with Beasley and/or THJr and/or Reed to add to our core of;
Duren Stew
Tobias Fontecchio Ausar
Cade Ivey Holland Fultz

Michael Porter Jr, Norman Powell or Duncan Robinson could be targets to save those teams some immediate cap, long term cap and give them some depth for one guy

You are the target audience of the wall of random knick-knacks I see checking out at a grocery store. It all makes sense now.

oh you know it. I'll grab a good magazine and a chocolate bar plus some batteries everytime! Lmao

[Canadafan]

Whoaaaa

[Canadafan]

https://hoopswire.com/cavaliers-cavs-isaac-okoro-nba-trade-rumors/

Sounds like he might pick up his qualifying option. Could fit nicely into basically our cap room with 2nds. Or Moore or sasser with 2nds for him.

Duren Stew Reed
Tobias Fontecchio
Ausar Okoro
Beasley THJr Holland
Cade Ivey Sasser

[MotownMadness]

Whoaaaa

I don't hate it

[Crymson]

Whoaaaa

Sorry to rain on any parades, but Amico is an awful source. Disregard.

If the front office wanted Okoro, they'd presumably have just tossed him an offer sheet when they still had $26 million in cap space. Why pay assets in a sign-and-trade now? And at the end of the day, he's a player with a low offensive ceiling and a shaky shot who'd stand in the way of the team's two recent #5 picks.

https://hoopswire.com/cavaliers-cavs-isaac-okoro-nba-trade-rumors/

Sounds like he might pick up his qualifying option. Could fit nicely into basically our cap room with 2nds. Or Moore or sasser with 2nds for him.

Sign-and-trades must be for a minimum of three seasons. If he takes the QO, he's staying in Cleveland until at least December 15th.

[zeebneeb]

Okoro would be a boon for the Pistons. He has improved his shooting every year hes been in the league (3P%)and plays excellent defense.

He would immediately start next to Cade, and the defense the team could offer up would be insane.

Cade
Okoro
Ausar
Harris
Duren

I would be all aboard, without question. He is 6'5, rugged build, defense, and a 3P shooter. Perfect player to be next to Cade. Young, and talented. (.391% from three last season on 3.1 attempts)

[Snakebites]

Not sure why "Pistons Talk" is a credible source.

I guess it's that time of the offseason where we're collectively starved for Pistons news.

[Crymson]

Okoro would be a boon for the Pistons. He has improved his shooting every year hes been in the league (3P%)and plays excellent defense.

His improvement in shooting is illusory; he shoots on very low volume. Take away just one made three for every ten games he played last season, and he'd be below his percentage from two seasons ago. He's unreliable, which was particularly in evidence in his collapse during this past postseason, and he's not a guy whom opponents are scared to leave open.

There's an odd notion that he's an athletic three-and-D wing of the sort that every team covets. He isn't that player; he plays good guard defense, but he's a shaky shooter with a low offensive ceiling. That's why he's still unsigned; the Cavaliers aren't willing to give him a multi-year deal at less than 10% of the cap, and no other team bothered to make a play for him.

As for the Pistons, they could have tossed him an offer sheet when they still had $26 million in cap space remaining. It would not have gotten in the way of them signing Fontecchio or Beasley or of taking Reed into cap space. They did not.

He would immediately start next to Cade, and the defense the team could offer up would be insane.

Cade
Okoro
Ausar
Harris
Duren

That lineup would have absolutely terrible spacing.

Not sure why "Pistons Talk" is a credible source.

I guess it's that time of the offseason where we're collectively starved for Pistons news.

Amico is the source being referenced, and he's unreliable.

[Canadafan]

Whoaaaa

Sorry to rain on any parades, but Amico is an awful source. Disregard.

If the front office wanted Okoro, they'd presumably have just tossed him an offer sheet when they still had $26 million in cap space. Why pay assets in a sign-and-trade now? And at the end of the day, he's a player with a low offensive ceiling and a shaky shot who'd stand in the way of the team's two recent #5 picks.

https://hoopswire.com/cavaliers-cavs-isaac-okoro-nba-trade-rumors/

Sounds like he might pick up his qualifying option. Could fit nicely into basically our cap room with 2nds. Or Moore or sasser with 2nds for him.

Sign-and-trades must be for a minimum of three seasons. If he takes the QO, he's staying in Cleveland until at least December 15th.

So if he takes the QO, we can't deal Sasser+2nd to fit his salary into our remaining cap?
Also, possibly Cavs let us know earlier they would match contract offer so this is their way of getting something for him