Even though NBA free agency is just a week old, all of the big signings and dominoes have fallen already. Between now and training camp, most free agent signings are going to be end of the bench, minimum contracts. There are some key restricted free agents still available, but with much of the free agent money drying up, their likely options will be to accept the qualifying offer and hit unrestricted free agency next offseason, or negotiate a new deal with their original team. But for teams looking to fill out the end of their bench, the bargain bin is going to be where they'll look. The Detroit Pistons opted to make some key trades rather than free agency signings by bringing in veterans Monte Morris and Joe Harris. The Pistons would do well to grab another veteran, this time in NBA free agency, in Garrett Temple.
The Pistons had probably one of the best drafts in the NBA. Ausar Thompson is brimming with potential. Marcus Sasser is the type of player who goes on to have a long and solid NBA career. They add those two players to already phenomenal core that includes Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and James Wiseman. That's arguably the top young core in the league at the moment.
What the Pistons need to do next to solidify this group is to add some solid veterans to the mix. One thing they don't want to do is become the Houston Rockets whose lack of veteran leadership contributed greatly to the team's culture, or lack thereof. The Rockets have done well to remedy the situation by adding several key vets this offseason.
Bringing in players like Monte Morris and Joe Harris in trades are exactly the type of moves they should be looking at. With young teams like the Pistons, you need veterans to be a presence in the locker room and on the bench. These veterans don't necessarily need to play, they're there for moral support and to help guide the young players along.
That's a role that Garrett Temple has played to perfection with the New Orleans Pelicans the past couple of seasons. He's a leader in every sense of the word, having served as a vice president in the NBA Players Association since 2017. After breaking into the NBA on 1o-day contracts, Temple carved out a niche as a good backup guard. But this past season with the Pelicans, he only played in 25 games in only 6.5 minutes per game, his lowest since 4.6 minutes per game he played over five games for the Sacramento Kings back during the 2009-10 season.
Garrett Temple isn't going to bring much on the court these days, although if you do need him to come in and knock down a couple of open threes, he did shoot 42.3 percent from three-point range last season. All of his value is going to be off the court and to provide a veteran voice for the younger guards such as Cunningham and Ivey. The Pistons currently have 14 players under contract with room to potentially add one more.
Their regular season rotation appears to be set with the starters likely being Cunningham, Ivey, James Wiseman, Jalen Duren and Bojan Bogdanovic. Their bench will likely be some combination of Ausar Thompson, Monte Morris, Marvin Bagley III, Isaiah Stewart and Alec Burks. Adding Temple as an end of the bench, locker room guy, would be a perfect way to end the offseason.
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