The Detroit Pistons have been busy throughout the summer reshaping their roster, driven by the disappointment of how last season ended. While they haven’t delivered the blockbuster move many fans were hoping for, the team will clearly have a different look next year with John Collins, Isaiah Joe, and Ebuka Okorie joining the fold.
However, the front office isn’t finished yet. The Jalen Duren situation is still unresolved, and GM Trajan Langdon could have additional moves planned.
But no matter what else the Pistons’ brass does between now and the start of the season, one particular decision stands out as genuinely perplexing. Most of their other moves can be rationally explained, but Detroit’s choice to hand Kevin Huerter a three-year, $27 million contract was difficult to understand at the moment it happened, and a week later, it remains just as baffling.
Kevin Huerter’s deal looks even worse when compared to other free-agent signings
When the signing was first announced, it was natural to assume there might be partial guarantees or non-guaranteed years involved. But that’s not the case—the Pistons do hold a team option for the final season, yet the first two years are fully guaranteed.
That naturally raises two questions: Which other team were the Pistons competing against for Huerter’s services, and why did they feel compelled to offer him a multi-year deal at that specific price point?
It’s not that Detroit’s interest in keeping Huerter is unreasonable. The team clearly needs more shooting and offensive punch, and as a deep rotational piece, he’s a serviceable option. The issue is that Huerter hasn’t been knocking down shots consistently for quite some time. The last season he shot above the league average from beyond the arc was 2022-23. Over the past three years, he’s been an inefficient scorer, and he doesn’t exactly compensate for it with defensive value.
When you examine the contracts signed by other free agents who fill a similar role and play the same position as Huerter, it becomes evident that Detroit significantly overpaid.
Landry Shamet secured a four-year, $24 million deal with the Knicks. Luke Kennard inked a two-year, $13 million contract with the Suns. Tim Hardaway Jr. signed a one-year, $6.5 million agreement with the Heat, and Anfernee Simons landed $12.3 million over two years from Philadelphia.
Every single one of those players performed at a higher level than Huerter last season, yet all of them are making less in average annual salary than Huerter will.
Was Huerter really going to turn down a one-year, $8 million offer from Detroit? Would a two-year, $12 million contract have been insufficient to keep him around? Did the Pistons truly have to pay above-market rates for an offense-minded backup shooting guard who shot just 30.8% from three-point range this past season?
If that was genuinely the case, then Detroit would have been wiser to simply let him walk. Backup shooters who are limited to one position aren’t especially difficult to find. This is particularly true given that the Pistons had already added Isaiah Joe and now have a crowded backcourt. Giving Huerter this kind of contract is tough to justify, even if he does start connecting on more shots next year.
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