Hanifan's Offseason Outlook: Evaluating the Detroit Pistons' 2024 offseason

Hot Hot Hoops senior writer Matt Hanifan will provide his take on the offseasons of all 30 teams for the next 30 days! Today, we are looking back on the Detroit Pistons’ offseason!

Previous Offseason Outlooks:

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Additions: Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr. (trade), Tobias Harris, Wendell Moore Jr. (trade), Paul Reed Jr.

Subtractions: Evan Fournier, Taj Gibson, Quentin Grimes, Chimezie Metu, Malachi Flynn, Stanley Umude, Jared Rhoden, James Wiseman, Troy Brown Jr., Buddy Boeheim

Re-signed: Cade Cunningham, Simone Fontecchio

Draft: Ron Holland (No. 5 overall), Bobi Klintman (No. 37)

Hanifan’s Take: The Pistons, who have had the NBA’s worst record in each of the last two seasons, were in desperate need of change. The Troy Weaver era began positively with Cade Cunningham falling into his lap, though it fell on its face miserably. Hiring Monty Williams to a six-year, $79 million contract–becoming the league’s highest-paid head coach, at the time–was a disaster from the start, resulting in a cataclysmic 14-68 record, the worst in the franchise’s 77-year history. Detroit brought in Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon to be their president of basketball ops, ultimately leading to Weaver’s exit. After parting with Williams, Detroit also brought in J.B. Bickerstaff, who was axed after four seasons and change with the Cavaliers. It will take at least a couple more offseasons to get a true vantage point on his vision, however. That said, the Tobias Harris contract (two years, $52 million) is confusing and selling low on Quentin Grimes for Tim Hardaway Jr.–who’s older, and worse than his counterpart–isn’t much better, outside of acquiring three second-rounders. From a glass-half-full perspective, both Hardaway and Harris could rebuild value to make them future trade targets at the deadline or, in Harris’ case, next offseason. Whether or not that’s a viable possibility remains to be seen. I think Langdon got a bargain in sharpshooterMalik Beasley for one year, $6 million; I also loved him re-signing Simone Fontecchio–one of the most underrated shooters in the sport–for $16 million over two years. That’s a steal. These shooters should make life easier for Cade Cunningham, who’s been forced to operate in a telephone booth the last few seasons. He finished 12th in potential assists (12.8) despite posting just 7.4 last season–and should have more functional space to operate within this context. It should, in theory, also make life easier for Ausar Thompson and hyper-athletic rookie Ron Holland II, a very inconsistent shooter in his lone season with G-League Ignite. For what Detroit’s trying to accomplish around Cunningham, I think Langdon’s vision is clearer than it was under Weaver, even though we won’t truly know until 2-3 years from now.