Game 58: Pistons (12-45) @ Celtics (34-25) Feb. 16 7:30 PM EST

[whitehops]

Most likely scenario with Bagley is that his agent quickly checks the market, then decides to either take the 1 year qualifying offer or decides to take a two year deal from Detroit worth about the same per year... about $15 million over 2 seasons. I think he's still someone that is going to need to bet on himself.

If another team has a better deal for him then he could sign an offer sheet, but Weaver will let Bagley's agent know that they can't allow Bagley to take too much time as we need to be able to make other moves in FA. We haven't invested so much into Bagley that losing him for nothing would be back breaking in any way.

i personally value him differently but just using your situation i think it would make a lot more sense for the pistons to renounce his rights immediately (getting rid of his $28 million cap hold) and let him become a true UFA. then they could offer him a 2 year, $15 million deal as soon as free agency starts, the offer is on the table and our remaining cap space is available to us.

i just don't think tying up all of our available cap space to wait for bagley to make a decision (but tell him to hurry up) is worth it just to retain matching rights for a player who would be a flyer.

[Piston Pete]

Right. If both sides are committed to one another, it doesn’t matter if we retain his rights.

But if he wants to shop, then we need to as well.

[Cowology]

I don't see the need for us to be aggressive right out of the gate. Teams that do that tend to overbid for "their guy", wanting to make sure they lock him up right away. That shouldn't be us. There is nobody we need that badly.

It boggles my mind that everybody talks about cap space and then argue for blowing it at the 1st available opportunity. Thankfully I trust our FO to be a little more discerning. I expect us to have some early conversations, but let some of the dust settle before we commit. We're still essentially in asset acquisition mode, which largely revolves around value. I'm more interested in trying to land multiple quality rotation players than I am in chasing the highest impact player. That also leaves us with greater future flexibility, which will be important down the line, when we will actually want to target an impact player.

[bstein14]

Honestly, from what I've seen of Bagley, he's work Trey Lyles money. That said, he's still young enough and has the athleticism that he's going to get paid more on potential still at this point. Anything more than 3 years $24 million would have me moving on to someone else for sure.... of course this mindset could change if he balls out down the stretch of this season but right now it feels like he's worth less than his $7 million qualifying offer.

[Sort]

I suspect they can play the Diallo game where they wait for Bagley to realize nobody else will be paying him much money and then take a two-year deal. Look, he has a role in this league, especially if he can improve his defense. He adds a little more rim protection and he can either be your fourth/fifth worst starter or a solid big off the bench. One doesn't know his maturity level, but he could figure that stuff out, and Pistons will have a much better idea by the end of the year.

In the meantime, I just like seeing an athletic big playing with Cade.

[MotorCade2]

I don't see the need for us to be aggressive right out of the gate. Teams that do that tend to overbid for "their guy", wanting to make sure they lock him up right away. That shouldn't be us. There is nobody we need that badly.

It boggles my mind that everybody talks about cap space and then argue for blowing it at the 1st available opportunity. Thankfully I trust our FO to be a little more discerning. I expect us to have some early conversations, but let some of the dust settle before we commit. We're still essentially in asset acquisition mode, which largely revolves around value. I'm more interested in trying to land multiple quality rotation players than I am in chasing the highest impact player. That also leaves us with greater future flexibility, which will be important down the line, when we will actually want to target an impact player.

If that highest impact player is a young core guy for the foreseeable future then I would much rather get a higher quality core piece then spread it around for role players. It's possible we could get a guy like that this offseason with a little luck. If we get one big in the draft and one guard in free agency then we are set with young talent and it's development and winning time. We aren't that far off from completing the rebuild IF we hit in the draft and free agency this year.

[Piston Pete]

Right. I’m in the camp of letting go of anyone we don’t see as a CORE piece of our future. I don’t want us to spend any money on “fringe starter” or “rotational” guys.

Save the cap for when a difference-maker becomes available (either via free agency or trade)

[flow]

If we need max cap space to go after Brunson then we're in bigger trouble than if we just resigned Bagley lol Stop overvaluing cap space. We are more than 2 years away from competing for a title. There is nobody we are going to sign next year or the year after that is putting us over the top. Don't overpay for mediocre talent when we aren't there yet.

So at what point is extending Bagley an “overpay for mediocre talent?”

$10 mil per?
$13 mil per?
More?

Really not looking at it as a knock on Bagley. But as you put it, he’s not a guy that “is putting us over the top.”

At some point, we need to stop spending money on fringe starters and/or solid rotational pieces and start saving some of our overvalued cap space for real difference-makers. Whether that’s this offseason, or 23, or even 24….

Building thru the draft is best. Then once we have a solid foundation from multiple drafts, THEN we spend on free agents to take us to that next level.

If we sign guys on that fringe starters level first, that’s how we get stuck in mediocrity in year 4 of the rebuild.

I have no clue. I've only watched him play 2 games in a Pistons uni. Unlike some people I'm not forming an opinion based on that limited action. I'm firmly in the "wait and see" camp. All I've really said about Bagley is that I don't think we've predetermined his future within the organization and I think it's kinda silly for fans to do so. It's too early.

Yes, but these weren't his first 2 games in the league. He played 148 games before joining the Pistons. And resumes follow the player. As Josh Jackson's did. As Dennis Smith's did....

[Cowology]

Hey, if you guys wanna make up your minds already more power to ya. As I said, I'm going to wait and see.

[whitehops]

Yes, but these weren't his first 2 games in the league. He played 148 games before joining the Pistons. And resumes follow the player. As Josh Jackson's did. As Dennis Smith's did....

and it's a little ironic in that his first two games reflect his scouting report perfectly. athletic and active on the boards but not a very skilled scorer, a defensive liability (his career block % is the same that trey lyles' is this year) and more or less a complete black hole (1 assist in 2 games is the same ratio he had in 37 games for SAC this season).

we're a terrible team right now so it obviously doesn't matter if he plays and gets 20+ minutes a night, but i really hope at some point weaver realizes that taking flyers on "somewhat talented", low-bball IQ players is not going advance our restoration, it will hold it back.

[mattao313]

Yes, but these weren't his first 2 games in the league. He played 148 games before joining the Pistons. And resumes follow the player. As Josh Jackson's did. As Dennis Smith's did....

and it's a little ironic in that his first two games reflect his scouting report perfectly. athletic and active on the boards but not a very skilled scorer, a defensive liability (his career block % is the same that trey lyles' is this year) and more or less a complete black hole (1 assist in 2 games is the same ratio he had in 37 games for SAC this season).

we're a terrible team right now so it obviously doesn't matter if he plays and gets 20+ minutes a night, but i really hope at some point weaver realizes that taking flyers on "somewhat talented", low-bball IQ players is not going advance our restoration, it will hold it back.

Preach my brothers preach.

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