{"id":198832,"date":"2026-06-04T11:00:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=198832"},"modified":"2026-06-04T11:00:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T15:00:22","slug":"3-under-the-radar-players","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/06\/04\/3-under-the-radar-players\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Under-the-Radar Options For the Pistons This Offseason and 3 Trade Chips"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is well documented that the Detroit Pistons have many decisions to make as they look to build<\/a> on one of the franchise’s best regular-season campaigns.<\/p>\n

3 Under-the-Radar Players Who the Pistons Should Pursue<\/h2>\n

The Pistons, who reportedly want to keep their core together while adding a piece or two, are expected to operate as an over-the-cap team this offseason despite having a projected $30 million in cap space, per\u00a0 Hunter Pederson of The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“My sense is the Pistons will choose to operate over the cap to be as aggressive as possible,” Pederson said. [Trajan] Langdon said during his postseason availability that he knew [Jalen] Duren<\/a> and [Ausar] Thompson<\/a> \u201cwould be expensive.\u201d After inking Duren to a new deal and fine-tuning an extension with Thompson, which I expect to happen, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see Detroit hit the trade market.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Detroit has 11 players under contract for the upcoming season with a salary cap hit of $135.4 million. The Pistons do have some flexibility with only $109 million guaranteed. However, the Pistons are expected to re-sign restricted free agent Duren and guarantee the contracts of Paul Reed<\/a> ($5.6 million) and Daniss Jenkins<\/a> ($4.0 million). The Pistons may choose to team up Jenkins’ deal and give him a raise<\/a>.\u00a0 Tolu Smith III<\/a> has a team option ($2.4 million), and only $2 million of Duncan Robinson’<\/a>s $15.99 million deal is guaranteed.<\/p>\n

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Projecting Players the Pistons Want To Retain<\/h4>\n

The Pistons’ primary goal this offseason will be to ink Duren to a long-term deal. Speaking of Duren, he is eligible for a five-year, $287.1 million deal after earning third team All-NBA honors this past season. However, Pederson doesn’t expect that the 22-year-old will get the max.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s a general sense around the league, as things stand today, that negotiations likely began far apart and will eventually come to a middle ground in the ballpark of a five-year, $200 million to $220 million deal \u2014 landing Duren an average annual value of $40 million to $44 million,” Pederson wrote yesterday.<\/span><\/p>\n