Now that the NBA Draft is officially in the books, attention turns to free agency and the trade market. The market has been heating up with the LaMelo Ball trade on Thursday. Now, Detroit Pistons fans are waiting for their team to make a similarly splashy move.
Unfortunately, that may be easier said than done. Some of the top targets for the Pistons, like Kyrie Irving and Kawhi Leonard, may not be available. The asking price for Trey Murphy may be too high. Detroit's options may be dwindling, which means that the most likely offseason acquisition may be a free agent: Norman Powell.
Norman Powell is the most likely Pistons addition this summer
The 33-year-old shooting guard doesn't have the reputation of the aforementioned names, but he is coming off a career season where he made his first All-Star team. He is an unrestricted free agent, and after the Heat traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo, he is more likely to leave Miami. The Heat don't have the flexibility or the cap space to re-sign Powell.
The Pistons, on the other hand, do. In fact, there has already been reporting around the Pistons' interest in the veteran scorer. This was essentially confirmed by the Isaiah Stewart trade. Detroit moved on from Beef Stew and his $15 million salary for next season. This brought the Pistons' cap space to over $20 million.
This should be enough to sign Powell. Considering how few teams with cap space there are in the league, it's difficult to imagine anyone beating that offer. As long as Detroit can offer Powell over the non-taxpayer midlevel exception, which starts at $15 million a year, they will likely not face much competition for his services.
Detroit can pay Powell before re-signing Jalen Duren and Tobias Harris, allowing them to bring back the same core from last season. The Pistons can create even more cap space by moving on from Caris LeVert or Duncan Robinson. Or, they could do a sign-and-trade for Powell with the Heat to keep their options open for other free agents or trade targets.
GM Trajan Langdon will surely leave no stone unturned. He has been clear about the front office's intentions this offseason. Pistons fans may want a blockbuster move, but that might not be out there.
Among the realistic options, Powell may be the best player. His ability to shoot, score, and play on or off the ball will be a big boost to Detroit's offense. He is on the older side, so this is certainly not a permanent solution, but if there are no better options on the market, the Pistons could do much worse than Powell.
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