The Pistons have made some interesting moves over the past few weeks, trading away Andre Drummond and agreeing to buyouts with both Reggie Jackson and Markieff Morris. The franchise appears to be in the midst of a tear-down, and as ESPN’s Bobby Marks explains (Twitter link), this offseason will be a test to see if the team has the stomach to be patient and rebuild.
Detroit is projected to have approximately $36MM in cap space this summer and what the organization does with that flexibility will go a long way toward identifying the team’s actual plans.
Here’s more from around the league:
- The Lakers appear to be the favorite to sign Morris, though as Marks tweets, other teams are eligible to claim the power forward off waivers, which would void the buyout. The new team would be on the hook for his player option next season if they claim Morris. Marks adds that teams can use a trade exception to claim the veteran and the Rockets are among the teams with a large enough TPE.
- Joe Harris hopes to re-sign with the Nets, as Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. Harris spoke about his desire to play alongside Kevin Durant, who hasn’t suited up since signing with Brooklyn.
- Marc Gasol could miss additional time with his lingering hamstring injury, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link). The Raptors want to make sure the big man is fully healthy before putting him back out on the court.
Morris is averaging 4 boards is around 22 minutes a game. At this point in his career he is less a power forward than a poor mans Kyle Korver, except unlike Kyle, he can grow facial hair. Not a difference-maker.
More of a plug and play bench player. One thing about it, he can pick where he wants to go. Because there’s 4-5 teams that could use him in that role.
Lakers are certainly closer to a ring than most.
Detroit can’t just waste time waiting. Ryan Broekhoff is available. Someone mentioned Uthoff in Memphis. There may be more offs.
If they start talking timeline, they’re on ice for the forseeable future. They may not even get high picks.
Let Gasoline heal up completely by trading him the hell out of town.