The first week of NBA free agency is in the books, and it's safe to say the Detroit Pistons haven't exactly made any earth-shaking moves. Dennis Schroder and Tim Hardaway Jr. left town, only to be replaced by Duncan Robinson and Caris LeVert, while the Pistons also managed to re-sign Paul Reed.
Not the most exciting moves, but also far from the types of transactions Pistons fans wanted to see from a team seemingly ready to take that next step.
While most of the big-name free agents are off the board, there's still time for Detroit to sign any of the available veteran names. Adding a backup power forward should be something on the Pistons' radar, and, fortunately for them, the perfect free agent to help that need is still out there.
Pistons Must Sign PF/C Chris Boucher to Salvage Offseason
If the Pistons want a reliable No. 2 PF to play behind Tobias Harris this season, general manager Trajan Langdon should give a call to Chris Boucher.
The former Oregon Duck is currently a free agent after spending the last seven seasons with the Toronto Raptors. The 6-foot-9, 200-pound big man garnered a reputation as one of the NBA's top bench forwards during that stretch, averaging 8.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks while shooting 48.9% from the floor and 33.9% from three-point range in 406 games (23 starts).
Injuries limited Boucher to 50 appearances in 2024-25; however, that didn't prevent him from averaging his most points (10.0 PPG) since the 2020-21 campaign. He also averaged his most threes made (1.4) with his best success rate (36.3%) in five years, showing that he's still an impactful rotational piece at this stage of his career.
The fact that Boucher has played exactly 50 games in back-to-back seasons means the Pistons could sign him to a cheap 'prove yourself' contract. He's 32 years old, meaning there aren't many more contracts in his future, and exceeding expectations on a minimum deal could be his best bet at getting paid next offseason.
At the end of the day, a Pistons-Boucher union would be mutually beneficial. Detroit would be adding an experienced veteran with two NBA Championship rings under his belt, whereas Boucher gets a chance to prove he still has 'it' with one of the league's top up-and-coming squads.
As one of the top remaining free agents, Boucher won't be available forever. The Pistons must target the veteran power forward as soon as possible before another team does, especially if they want to salvage their underwhelming start to NBA free agency.