[b]Detroit, please, WHAT ARE YOU DOING (Friday, 7:18 p.m.)[/b]
[b]• Pistons:[/b] Mason Plumlee signed a three-year, $25 million deal with Detroit, and then minutes later Detroit announced it signed Jahlil Okafor to a two-year deal (presumably for the minimum).
I’m sorry, but … WHAT?!?!?!
Plumlee is a halfway decent backup center that BORD$ rated as a $3.5 million proposition. He’s also 30, so his best years are almost certainly behind him. This deal would be a bad value on the face of it, but it gets worse the deeper you dig.
For starters, this deal likely takes Detroit out of the market for Christian Wood – you know, the center they already had who is actually good – because it cuts the Pistons to just $3.45 million in cap rom. Technically Detroit can still keep Wood if he re-signs as an Early Bird free agent for $10 million or less, but that prospect seems increasingly dim based on the hordes of centers the Pistons keep acquiring.
Also, the Pistons aren’t exactly in win-now mode. Where does paying a 30-year-old career backup fit into the plan here?
Wait, I’m still getting warmed up. Even supposing that the Pistons wanted a veteran center around, this isn’t even close to the best option available. Plumlee may not be any better than Isaiah Stewart, Tony Bradley, Dewayne Dedmon or Okafor — the other FOUR centers Detroit acquired in the past 72 hours (yes, really) — but signing him took the Pistons out of the mix for the many other players who might be.
Had Detroit wanted a starting veteran center, the Pistons had $11.5 million in cap room – trumping any team with the mid-level exception. Even if they didn’t want to use it on Wood, that room is almost certainly enough money to put them in the mix for the likes of Hassan Whiteside, Montrezl Harrell, Jakob Poeltl, Derrick Favors or Serge Ibaka.
Finally, did you know there were four other positions besides center? Detroit used all its cap space to acquire Plumlee and Bradley, traded shooting guard Tony Snell for Dedmon, and then burned a roster spot on Okafor for good measure. They have five centers and only two players who can dribble (three if you count Dzanan Musa dribbling into a contested 40-footer), and now they have no money left to acquire any others.
Overall, we have an early leader in the contest for the worst free-agent contract.
On a positive note, congratulations to agent Mark Bartelstein, who has to be some kind of warlock to get Plumlee paid this much.
https://theathletic.com/2211044/2020/11/...s-hearing/
[b]• Pistons:[/b] Mason Plumlee signed a three-year, $25 million deal with Detroit, and then minutes later Detroit announced it signed Jahlil Okafor to a two-year deal (presumably for the minimum).
I’m sorry, but … WHAT?!?!?!
Plumlee is a halfway decent backup center that BORD$ rated as a $3.5 million proposition. He’s also 30, so his best years are almost certainly behind him. This deal would be a bad value on the face of it, but it gets worse the deeper you dig.
For starters, this deal likely takes Detroit out of the market for Christian Wood – you know, the center they already had who is actually good – because it cuts the Pistons to just $3.45 million in cap rom. Technically Detroit can still keep Wood if he re-signs as an Early Bird free agent for $10 million or less, but that prospect seems increasingly dim based on the hordes of centers the Pistons keep acquiring.
Also, the Pistons aren’t exactly in win-now mode. Where does paying a 30-year-old career backup fit into the plan here?
Wait, I’m still getting warmed up. Even supposing that the Pistons wanted a veteran center around, this isn’t even close to the best option available. Plumlee may not be any better than Isaiah Stewart, Tony Bradley, Dewayne Dedmon or Okafor — the other FOUR centers Detroit acquired in the past 72 hours (yes, really) — but signing him took the Pistons out of the mix for the many other players who might be.
Had Detroit wanted a starting veteran center, the Pistons had $11.5 million in cap room – trumping any team with the mid-level exception. Even if they didn’t want to use it on Wood, that room is almost certainly enough money to put them in the mix for the likes of Hassan Whiteside, Montrezl Harrell, Jakob Poeltl, Derrick Favors or Serge Ibaka.
Finally, did you know there were four other positions besides center? Detroit used all its cap space to acquire Plumlee and Bradley, traded shooting guard Tony Snell for Dedmon, and then burned a roster spot on Okafor for good measure. They have five centers and only two players who can dribble (three if you count Dzanan Musa dribbling into a contested 40-footer), and now they have no money left to acquire any others.
Overall, we have an early leader in the contest for the worst free-agent contract.
On a positive note, congratulations to agent Mark Bartelstein, who has to be some kind of warlock to get Plumlee paid this much.
https://theathletic.com/2211044/2020/11/...s-hearing/