The Detroit Pistons have done one of the most important things an NBA team can do under the new tax rules, which is avoid bad contracts.
The Pistons may not have gotten high offseason grades from some publications, but they haven’t done anything stupid and sometimes what you don’t do is as important as what you do.
Bad contracts are hugely punitive now and the Pistons have to be patient when considering new deals for Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren, while continuing to avoid signing older veterans to high-value deals.
The Pistons stayed away from names like Bradley Beal, Kevin Durant and Marcus Smart, players whose age and injury histories do not align with Trajan Langdon’s vision, one that was fine-tuned in New Orleans, where his stars were always injured and they gave out long-term extensions to players past their prime.