Pistons
How do the Pistons follow up on a pleasant surprise of a season? Well, that remains the question, as they will have their fair share of veteran free agents.
One to watch, of course, is none other than Malik Beasley, who offered lots of leadership and plenty of scoring punch.
“Like any team that overachieves, there are hurdles on how to duplicate this season’s success and take the next step in the Eastern Conference,” wrote ESPN’s Bobby Marks. “The biggest hurdle: The Pistons’ front office has to carefully weigh signing the team’s free agents while also prioritizing future roster optionality and financial flexibility. Beasley finished second in Sixth Man of the Year voting, played all 82 games and ranked third in NBA history in 3-pointers made off the bench.
“Since he has non-Bird rights, the maximum starting salary Detroit can sign Beasley to is $7.2 million. The Pistons could, however, use cap space or their non-tax midlevel exception to sign him to a greater first-year salary.”
- Detroit is one team that could have interest in Cavaliers free agent guard Ty Jerome, sources told Hoops Wire. Jerome spent a year under current Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff in Cleveland — though an injury limited Jerome to two games in 2023-24.
- Still, the priority for the Pistons seems to be running it back as much as possible and building off the inspiring run of the past year. That also might be what makes the most sense financially.
- As for Jerome, Cavs president of basketball operations Koby Altman said he’s “hopeful” the Cavs will not just re-sign Jerome, but fellow free agent Sam Merrill. Either leaving for the Pistons, at the moment, is considered a long shot.
Magic
The Magic’s offseason priority will be to “get their finances in order and a new contract for Paolo Banchero,” Marks wrote.
There are plenty of other considerations, as well.
“The finances next season will require Orlando to create a pecking order on what player has the most value to the roster and who is expendable,” Marks wrote. “For example, Moritz Wagner was their fourth-leading scorer and looked to be in the running as an NBA Sixth Man of the Year candidate before suffering a knee injury in December. Is exercising his $11 million team option and then exploring trade suitors for Jonathan Isaac or Goga Bitadze a more logical option? Isaac is owed $15 million next season and Bitadze $8.3 million.
“Or do the development of Anthony Black, a healthy Suggs and the possibility of drafting a guard with one of their two first-round picks make Harris the odd man out? Harris has a $7.5 million team option and averaged 1.4 points per game in the first round.”
Grizzlies
The sense around the NBA is that Ja Morant will be back with the Grizzlies next season — though that also seems to be far from a definite.
“Extension talks with Morant will be a good indicator if Memphis views the former All-Star as a franchise player to continue building around,” Marks wrote. “Injuries and suspensions have seen Morant play a total of 120 games since he signed a five-year, $197 million extension in the 2022 offseason.
“The Grizzlies have up until Oct. 21 to tack on an additional two years ($61.7 million and $66.7 million) to the three years already left on his contract. The extension would put him in a Grizzlies uniform through 2029-30.”
In other words, it’s safe to assume Memphis hasn’t given up on Morant just yet. We think.
“It starts with a healthy Morant,” Marks wrote. “In the games he played during the regular season, Memphis was 10 games above .500. But the Grizzlies also lost their defensive identity during the season. Before the All-Star break, Memphis ranked seventh in defensive efficiency. They finished the second half of the season 19th.”
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