While the Detroit Pistons are involved in a very busy offseason, the rest of the league is also building out its rosters for next season. This has been a wild offseason so far with plenty of unexpected transactions. It's not as significant as the blockbuster trades, but one former Piston landed a surprise new deal in free agency.
On Wednesday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that free agent big man Marvin Bagley was signing a one-year deal with the Denver Nuggets. If Charania's reporting is to be believed, Bagley had a handful of offers and landed on the West contender to be Nikola Jokic's backup.
Pistons fans must have chuckled when they saw Charania describing Bagley as "a critical frontcourt addition." Anyone who remembers his Detroit stint, or any of his NBA career, should rightfully be skeptical about Bagley's ability to contribute at a playoff level.
Ex-Piston Marvin Bagley signs with the Denver Nuggets
Few players embody the Pistons' incompetence in the early 2020s more than Bagley. When Troy Weaver was the general manager in Detroit, he acquired Bagley at the 2022 trade deadline in exchange for Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles, and draft considerations.
At the time, Bagley had already fallen out of favor in Sacramento completely. Not only did he deal with injuries in his first couple of seasons in the NBA after famously being the No. 2 pick in the draft over Luka Doncic, but he was also not impactful on the court. He failed to reach an extension agreement with the Kings, who ended up trading him to Detroit.
More egregious than trading for him, however, was the contract the Pistons gave Bagley. They signed him to a three-year, $37.5 million deal, despite him not playing at a rotation level in the NBA.
One of many bad moves Weaver made during his tenure, Bagley proved to be overpaid. He wasn't able to finish out his contract in Detroit and was traded to the Wizards in January 2024. Since then, the 27-year-old has been bouncing around the league, never being worth the contract the Pistons signed him to.
Bagley averaged 12 points and 5.9 rebounds on 55% shooting from the field during his time in Detroit, but his impact didn't go beyond box score stats. He struggles to guard centers or smaller perimeter players. He can't shoot threes, creating spacing issues, making him a tough fit.
That is why the Nuggets' signing him is a bit of a head-scratcher. They have financial limitations and want to have a backup center on a minimum deal. Jonas Valanciunas and Zeke Nnaji proved to be insufficient in that role, and they are on unfavorable contracts. The Nuggets will almost certainly move on from them this summer, but it's difficult to imagine Bagley will even give them what those two provided.
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