The NBA's free agency period has begun with a flourish of deals involving big-name player,s like Hassan Whiteside. However, some smaller contracts, in comparison, have been handed out to players brought on to fill supporting roles.

Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports that Ish Smith is receiving a three-year deal worth $18 million from the Detroit Pistons.

When you look at the headlining deals approaching $30 million per year, this doesn't seem like much. But, given the caliber of player that Smith is, it's pretty enormous.

To give you perspective, Smith made $1.1 million last season. He's essentially receiving a raise of $4.9 million, plus an additional two years at the same number. That's crazy.

Head coach Stan Van Gundy had previously discussed the need to bring in a backup point guard; Smith appears to be their guy to do it.

Smith did put up some pretty impressive numbers, averaging 12.6 points, 6.5 assists, and four rebounds while playing for both the New Orleans Pelicans and the Philadelphia 76ers last season.

Ish actually hoped to re-sign with Philly, but at a certain point, he grew tired of waiting for their call.

On a much larger scale, the Pistons are nearing a deal with All-Star center Andre Drummond for the max, approximately $130 million over five years.

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