It's common knowledge that the Detroit Pistons, at the moment, are prioritizing the development of their youngsters. With Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, and now Ausar Thompson leading the way, it's not too much of a stretch to think that the Pistons aren't too far away from challenging for a spot in the play-in tournament.

Nevertheless, the Pistons will be facing difficult decisions with their young core as time passes. They will need to decide who to keep for the long haul and who they must trade away, especially once their youngsters are up for extension on their rookie deals. This conundrum will be especially relevant as they sort out their frontcourt picture.

And in recent days, one frontcourt domino has already fallen for the Pistons. On Monday night, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN announced that the Pistons had agreed to a four-year, $64 million contract extension with Isaiah Stewart. Stewart has made strides in becoming more of a jumpshooter, and he's only 22 years old, which means that he'll have plenty of room to grow.

Other than Stewart, however, it was mostly uneventful for the Pistons on the free agency signings front, as they struck early on the trade market by absorbing the expiring contracts of Joe Harris and Monte Morris. But in the limited free agency moves that they did pull off, how did the Pistons fare?

Here are grades for the Pistons' signings during the 2023 NBA free agency thus far.

Pistons free agency grades

Signing Isaiah Stewart to a four-year, $64 million extension: B

On the surface, it sure seems like the Pistons overpaid a bit to keep Isaiah Stewart in the Motor City until the 2027-28 season. According to The Athletic, league sources pegged Stewart's value at around $12 to $14 million, so an average annual value of around $16 million is on the higher side of the contract spectrum for the 22-year old big man.

The Pistons certainly value everything Stewart brings to the table, and at $16 million per year, it's not like the team is breaking the bank to keep someone they believe is a starting-caliber player. That is the going rate for starters who contribute on both ends these days. But Stewart certainly has a lot of work left to do to ensure that the Pistons get the most bang for their buck with this deal.

For starters, Stewart may play the majority of his minutes next season at the four, especially with Jalen Duren and James Wiseman warranting minutes at the five. And Stewart doesn't exactly have the prototypical skillset one would expect from a power forward, although he's certainly fine-tuning his game to become more suited to the position.

During the 2022-23 season, Isaiah Stewart had plenty of reps at the four. He increased his three-point shooting frequency by nearly 600 percent, going from 0.5 to 4.1 attempts per night and not suffering too much of drop-off in effectiveness.

Still, given his tenacity on the glass as well as with protecting the paint, it's fair to wonder whether asking Stewart's game to shift towards perimeter-centrism is the best use of his abilities. In the long run, Stewart could become a deadly 3 and D presence at the four, but at the moment, he's neither a marksman from deep that defenses need to stay attached to nor a game-changing defender against quicker players.

Given where he is at this point of his career, Isaiah Stewart may not be worth $16 million per year just yet. But given time, perhaps he could be, and that's certainly what the Pistons had in mind when they signed the 22-year old to a four-year, $64 million extension. Stewart certainly has the work ethic to develop his game to the point where this contract ends up being a bargain.

Pistons sign Malcolm Cazalon to a two-way contract: B-

The Pistons, even after drafting Ausar Thompson and trading for Joe Harris, have a need for more quality options on the wing. Thus, taking a punt on Malcolm Cazalon, a 21-year old small forward with four years of experience already playing professionally in Europe, isn't the worst idea in the world.

Cazalon, at such a young age, will be bringing in years of coaching from Europe, which will help him nail the finer parts of his game. He will need to improve his three-point shooting, however, if he were to stick with the Pistons for the long haul.

Pistons re-sign Jared Rhoden to a two-way contract: B

Jared Rhoden has been in the Pistons' pipeline since December 2022, so the team must see something in the 23-year old to keep him on the roster. And at the moment, it's looking like Rhoden is repaying their belief in him, as he has been one of the Pistons' best players thus far during Summer League.