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Coming into the frenzy that is free-agency week with, roughly, $30 million in cap space, Detroit had Pistons fans worldwide falling asleep to the thoughts of how the team could spend its dough.
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Cam Johnson? Jerami Grant? Harrison Barnes? A trade for a disgruntled star?
You’ve dozed off thinking about one of these names, outcomes. It’s only natural.
Well, just hours before free agency was set to begin, the Pistons struck. But not in the way that you dreamed or prayed. On Friday afternoon, the Nets traded the sharpshooting Joe Harris and his $20 million expiring contract, as well as two future second-round picks, to the Pistons, league sources tell The Athletic. Detroit, by league rules, will have to send either $110,000 in cash or a top-55 protected future second-round pick. No players will be sent from Detroit to Brooklyn, team sources say.
Aside from Harris, a career 43.7 percent 3-point shooter, providing a service the Pistons needed more of, the addition of the 31-year-old forward cuts into that $30 million in cap space Detroit had to use when free agency officially opens. Barring any other trades, the Pistons are looking at close to $10 million in cap space to play the rest of the way.
For most of you, I’m sure adding Harris, who only played 14 games two seasons ago due to a bad ankle injury and eased into last season due to recovery, is the ultimate buzz kill, especially because it opens up more money for the Nets to retain Johnson, who many Pistons fans were clamoring for. Johnson, it is expected, will sign a deal this summer that pays him anywhere from $90 million to $100 million in totality. Johnson, 27, is talented. He is the prototypical 3-and-D wing. However, Detroit clearly didn’t have interest in making that type of commitment to an oft-injured player who, to be fair, is just a role player and regularly crawls to 60 games played per season.
Some of you will be furious. Some of you may boycott. Understandable.
However, if you can calm down for a second and really care to look beyond the surface, this is a move made by an organization that is more focused on the bigger picture than winning the news conference. The Pistons of the last decade would have overpaid and committed multiple years to Johnson, who is, again, at the end of the day, just a role player. The Pistons of the last decade are the reason the current regime has to be extra careful now.
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Detroit has ambitions of turning a corner next season. That’s no secret. The Pistons would like to be in the hunt for the Play-In Tournament, and, yes, Johnson could have helped make that possible. Yet, with that said, Detroit realizes it’s not in the position to give that type of money to a role player. It doesn’t even have stars yet. The Pistons hope Cade Cunningham will be a star. They hope Jaden Ivey will be a star. They hope Jalen Duren or Ausar Thompson can be. They hope like you hope. They believe like you believe. But it hasn’t happened yet. If the Pistons were going to surprise some people next season, it was always going to be because one or two of the names above started their incline to stardom. Not because Johnson was here.
In opting for Harris over Johnson, or Grant, or Barnes, Detroit gets the shooting it needs. It gets more wing depth. It also gets about $20 million in cap space for next free-agency period, when the pool of players is deeper and far more interesting. The Pistons maintain the flexibility to be a player when a star becomes available. Detroit could easily get to, at least, $60 million in cap space next season. Money talks, no matter who you are.
Then there’s the other caveat as it pertains to why the Pistons opted for Harris over Johnson: Monty Williams. Detroit’s new coach used to be Johnson’s old coach in Phoenix. If anyone was privy to information regarding Johnson’s health going forward, and if it would be practical to commit long-term money, Williams would know. Yes, Harris has a recent injury problem of his own, but he was still productive last season and only has one year left on his deal. Johnson has only played more than 65 games in a season once in his four years.
Trading for Harris doesn’t win the news conference in Detroit. No one is saying that. Harris is a fine role player who provides exactly what the Pistons need. There’s no need in saying he’s any more than that. Harris, on the surface, is not Johnson. However, the gap might not be that big when you consider that, to get Johnson, Detroit would have had to commit a bigger deal and crossed its fingers that injury luck was finally in the Pistons’ favor. The Pistons can still get to where they want to get with Harris on the roster. Again, it all depends on Cunningham, Ivey, Duren and others.
Detroit’s front office made this move with the bigger picture in mind. That’s what a rebuilding team should do. Otherwise, you end up like the Pistons of the 2010s.
(Top photo of Joe Harris: Jesse D. Garrabrant / NBAE via Getty Images)
