Outside of the Jalen Duren situation, the Detroit Pistons have almost certainly finalized their roster for next season. It would be a surprising development if the Pistons made another addition to their roster between now and the start of the season.
Just like with any team in the league, there are players on the Pistons roster who are appropriately paid, overpaid, and underpaid. Let's take a look at the 15-man roster and see who the most overpaid and underpaid players are in Detroit.
Most overpaid: Kevin Huerter, 3 years, $27 million
The moment the Pistons and Huerter agreed on a three-year, $27 million deal this summer, it immediately became the worst contract on the books in Detroit.
On one hand, this is good. Most NBA teams would love it if the worst contract on their books was a $9 million per year deal. It's not a contract that severely hamstrings Detroit's ability to make other moves.
On the other hand, it's disappointing that the Pistons signed their worst deal in the same offseason that they didn't make the necessary upgrades to the roster. The Pistons could and should have given this contract to a player who could help them a lot more than Huerter will.
Despite his reputation as a shooter, Huerter hasn't reliably and consistently made shots in several seasons. Over the last three years, he has made 33.6% of his threes on 5.2 attempts per game. He doesn't provide enough in non-shooting aspects of the game to justify a deal this much over the veteran's minimum.
Tim Hardaway Jr., Luke Kennard, Anfernee Simons, and Landry Shamet all signed new deals as free agents this summer. They all signed for less than $6.5 million per year despite being significantly better than Huerter last season. It's just very difficult to imagine Huerter outplaying this deal considering the level he has been at over the last two seasons.
Most underpaid: Paul Reed, one year, $5.6 million
Reed is coming into the 2026-27 campaign with a ton of momentum. He usurped Isaiah Stewart in the pecking order in the playoffs, becoming the primary backup to Jalen Duren. One could even argue that he was the best center for the Pistons for long stretches of the postseason.
His emergence has led the Pistons to move on from Stewart this summer. Reed will now be the full-time backup center. This will likely lead to his minutes increasing significantly.
Detroit will have a quality backup center who will play 15-20 minutes per game on a $5.6 million deal. Compared to what other backup centers in the league are making, this is as good a bargain deal as there is in the league.
This summer, Jock Landale signed a one-year, $14 million contract. Quinten Post landed a three-year, $26 million deal. Mo Wagner will make $18.4 million over the next two years. Jusuf Nurkic will be on a two-year, $22 million deal.
It's difficult to argue that any of these players are better than Reed. Yet, they will be making a lot more than Reed.
Detroit has several team-friendly contracts on its books. Ausar Thompson ($11.1 million) and Daniss Jenkins ($4 million) will both significantly exceed the value on their contracts. In terms of how undervalued the contract is in terms of annual salary, however, Reed takes the cake.
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