Christian Wood’s future with Pistons to be decided as NBA free agency looms

The Detroit Pistons’ rebuild began in February under senior adviser Ed Stefanski and was accelerated big-time this week under new general manager Troy Weaver.

In less than 10 months, this team has overhauled its roster so much that Blake Griffin is now the longest-tenured Piston – and he was acquired in January 2018. Griffin and Svi Mykhailiuk are the only Pistons remaining from the 2018-19 season.

Weaver isn’t finished retooling. Griffin and Derrick Rose are trade candidates, if not before the start of the season on Dec. 22, then prior to the trade deadline. Weaver might also make a move or two to create cap space for free agency, such as trade center Dewayne Dedmon, acquired Thursday from Atlanta for Tony Snell and Khyri Thomas.

Teams can begin speaking with free agents Friday at 6 p.m. and can sign them as soon as Sunday at noon.

After Weaver landed three first-round picks and four of the top 38 selections in Wednesday’s draft, he said, “We’re going to attack free agency.”

The Pistons don’t have as much money to do that. They began the week with about $31 million available. That was whittled down to roughly $9 million, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, following this week’s moves. This is why another move or two seems likely.

The Pistons’ biggest decision is whether to meet power forward Christian Wood’s asking price following his breakout season.

“We look forward to continue to have talks with Christian and his representatives,” Weaver said last week. “He is definitely someone you have strong interest in. Absolutely. Do I have a number in my head? I always got a number in my head. We’ll see how that works out. But excited about Christian and the opportunity to speak with him and his representatives.”

Wood, 25, might command as much as $15 million per season. But only a handful of teams – including the Hawks, Knicks and Hornets – have a decent amount of cap space. Some teams could use the mid-level exception, but that is only $9.3 million.

If the Pistons are unable to sign Wood, they would work out a sign-and-trade, which would get them an asset and Wood a better contract from another team.

The Pistons on Thursday opted not to make qualifying offer to center/power forward Thon Maker, making him an unrestricted free agent. They also shipped center Justin Patton to the Clippers. That leaves them thin at the power positions if Wood doesn’t re-sign.

Other free-agent options include centers Aron Bayes (Phoenix), Jakob Poeltl (San Antonio), Willie Cauley-Stein (Dallas), Harry Giles (Sacramento) and power forwards Davis Bertans (Washington) and Montrezl Harrell (Clippers).

The Pistons also must decide whether to re-sign shooting guard Langston Galloway.

Since Feb. 6, the Pistons have parted with Andre Drummond, Reggie Jackson, Markieff Morris, Bruce Brown, Luke Kennard, Snell and Thomas.

They added four draft picks — Killian Hayes (No. 7), Isaiah Stewart (No. 16), Saddiq Bey (No. 19) and Saben Lee (No. 38) – and some players through trades – Dzanan Musa, Trevor Ariza, Tony Bradley and Rodney McGruder, a couple of whom might not be with them when the season starts.

Here is how the Pistons’ depth chart looks as of today:

Point guards: Derrick Rose, Killian Hayes, Saben Lee.

Shooting guards: Svi Mykhailiuk, Rodney McGruder, Jaylen Hands.

Small forwards: Sekou Doumbouya, Saddiq Bey, Trevor Ariza, Dzanan Musa.

Power forwards: Blake Griffin.

Centers: Dewayne Dedmon, Isaiah Stewart, Tony Bradley.

More: Troy Weaver explains aggressive approach on draft day

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