Cade Cunningham’s role, Simone Fontecchio’s status and the salary-cap outlook for the Pistons are among the items on the menu in the latest edition of Pistons Mailbag.
Darrell (Detroit): I hope the Pistons play Cade Cunningham as a point forward next season since he can defend forwards better than guards. Then have Ausar Thompson guard opposing teams’ primary ballhandlers, keeping them out of the lane for easy scores or drawing fouls on Jalen Duren, which takes him out of games early and often. Having Thompson defend smaller guards also creates mismatches on offense. Rule No. 1 on offense is to exploit mismatches, so playing Thompson on the primary ballhandler serves as a two-fer.
Langlois: Whatever you want to call him, Cade Cunningham is going to be the guy with the ball in his hands most often for the Pistons in all probability. Who knows what the roster is going to look like by the time next October rolls around, but as close as you can come to a certainty for 2024-25 is that Cunningham is going to be at the center of things. Thompson had an encouraging rookie season, though just as he began to develop a bit of a comfort level from the 3-point line he was sidelined for the final month-plus. I’d expect Thompson to be back, but what his role will be depends on a lot of other factors. Surely, the Pistons are going to make some key additions and adding wing shooting is one area high on the list of potential moves. But when Thompson is on the floor – whether that’s starting next to Cunningham or coming off the bench – he’s likely going to guard the most dynamic perimeter playmaker. So you’re on the right track. The Pistons will try to lighten the load for Cunningham as much as possible to allow him to flourish offensively with a heavy burden on him at that end. As for exploiting a mismatch the other way, if it happens in transition, yes. Thompson probably needs more refinement as a ballhandler and shooter to make it a point of emphasis to get him the ball just because he’s being guarded by someone a few inches shorter than him.
@fabiosci8_1/IG: Will the Pistons keep Simone Fontecchio. (Yes, please!).
Langlois: There is a very high likelihood that Fontecchio is back with the Pistons next season. He’ll be a restricted free agent and the history of restricted free agents is that they are almost always retained by their current team if that’s what it desires. The Pistons clearly understood Fontecchio’s status when they made the trade for him and he made a very favorable impression in his 16 games before suffering the foot injury. He gives the Pistons someone who can start or come off the bench and guard up or down while shooting 3-pointers at a very good clip on high volume. That would make him an easy fit on any roster, but especially for a Pistons team in need of exactly that type of player.
Langlois: Rookie extensions really won’t have much impact on how the Pistons go about their business this off-season. Isaiah Stewart’s extension will kick in, but that’s already baked into their 2024-25 outlook. He’ll count a reported $15 million on the cap and – among players currently on the roster and under contract for next season – that is the single largest commitment on the Pistons cap sheet for next season. That will take up just a little bit more than 10 percent of the Pistons cap, so they’re in good shape. Cade Cunningham is widely expected to agree to a rookie extension deal this summer, but that won’t have any impact on the 2024-25 cap space for the team; it will kick in for the 2025-26 season. Because Cunningham’s contract is going to take up a much bigger chunk of the team’s 2025-26 cap, there is an argument to be made to make a bigger splash this off-season because that will be a little more difficult to achieve in the future. But throwing big money at a player who doesn’t move the needle just because of the timing probably would come back to haunt them down the road. All of that said, all signs point to the Pistons being more aggressive this off-season than they have been in the past two off-seasons. One, they’ll have more cap space than they’ve had; two, the looming Cunningham extension makes it unlikely they’ll have quite as much cap space in the next few cycles as they’ll have this one.
@cbudziak11/IG: What day is the draft lottery?
Langlois: May 12. That’s a Sunday, which veers from recent tradition of the draft lottery coming on a Tuesday night. There won’t be nearly as much anticipation for the lottery this year as last, when everyone knew the identity of the No. 1 prospect, Victor Wembanyama. This year, if you were to poll the 30 front offices, I wouldn’t be surprised if you needed both hands to count the number of potential No. 1 picks.
@Annistogad: What is the game plan for success for next season?
Langlois: One of the most common starting lineups this season consisted of Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart, Ausar Thompson, Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey; Stewart, who turns 23 in May, is the oldest of the bunch. The Pistons were plagued by injuries this season and that eroded every inch of their margin of error with a roster that young. They’re going to add veterans over the off-season and with $60-plus million in cap space they are going to be more than journeymen or limited role players. So the recipe for success is (a) internal improvement from the core young players, (b) adding some high-end talent to the top of the roster and (c) getting a potential future impact player with their high lottery pick.