The NBA free agency officially kicks off at 6 pm EST on Tuesday, but transactions have already started trickling in. Teams are trying to ensure some of their own free agents, whom they want to retain, don't hit the open market. That was the Detroit Pistons' approach with Kevin Huerter, but they had to overpay to keep him on the team.
ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the Pistons were signing Huerter to a three-year, $27 million deal. Pistons insider Omari Sankofa later clarified that the third year in the deal will be a team option.
Kevin Huerter's new contract is a serious overpay by the Pistons
Plenty of people will think that $9 million per year for a rotation player in the rising cap environment is acceptable.
The problem is, we don't actually know if Huerter is a capable rotation player anymore. It's not like he played a huge role in Detroit after getting acquired at the trade deadline. He was slightly better towards the end of the season, but he still only shot 29.4% from three as a Piston and was not a big part of the playoff rotation.
Despite desperately needing more shooting in the postseason, the Pistons gave Huerter limited minutes. He suffered an adductor strain in Game 4 vs. the Magic, which kept him out for the next seven games. He then returned in Game 5 vs. the Cavs, played only three minutes, and never saw the court again.
Even though the 27-year-old shooting guard has the reputation of a shooter, he hasn't consistently made shots in a long time. Over the last two years, he made 32.4% of his threes. He has been over 39% from three only once in his eight-year career.
Sure, Huerter can do a little bit more with the ball compared to most shooters and is not a complete liability on defense, but his calling card is shooting. And if he can't do that, there is very little use for him for the Pistons.
It's not a bad idea to bring Huerter back. For the right price, he would have made sense as a depth piece. A three-year deal for $9 million per season, however, is not the right price. Similar shooting guards like AJ Green and Sam Merrill also make around $10 million per year, but they are significantly better shooters and players than Huerter. For that salary slot, the Pistons could have upgraded their rotation with a more reliable option than Huerter.
Plus, Detroit already brought in Isaiah Joe, who is a better version of Huerter. They will also have Daniss Jenkins and Ebuka Okorie off the bench. Caris LeVert is still on the team. Huerter's path to playing time is not going to be an easy one.
This likely means that more moves are coming. Duncan Robinson and/or LeVert may be on their way out. What the future holds for other free agents like Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren is still unclear, but the Pistons' roster will look very different next season.
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