Fresh off a historic 60-win season, the Detroit Pistons have an enviable salary cap situation.
But still limited by league restrictions and small-market spending habits, they might need to make some hard decisions this offseason.
NBA free agency begins on June 30, and the Pistons have starters Jalen Duren and Tobias Harris both entering the market, Duren as a restricted free agent and Harris as an unrestricted player. The team has the ability to sign both players and stay under the first apron, but it might affect how Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon can approach signing a big-time free agent, navigating next year’s trade deadline and planning for future seasons.
No matter how Langdon approaches this offseason, however, his team’s financial flexibility gives him plenty of options to make improvements.
Here’s the breakdown of Detroit’s salary cap situation:
Detroit Pistons 2026-27 salary cap space
All numbers per Spotrac as of June 18.
*Excluding $103.4 million in cap holds, not guaranteed spending for upcoming season.
The Pistons currently have a little over $135 million committed to 10 players for the upcoming season, which puts them in the bottom-5 of NBA teams in terms of active spending. About $50 million of that committed salary will go to star point guard Cade Cunningham, but beyond that, the Pistons don’t have anyone on the books making more than $16 million next season.
That gives the Pistons a lot of room to work with heading into next season, but how much room is dependent on the team’s willingness to spend. For example, the Pistons have a little under $66 million to spend before they hit the luxury tax threshold, which will cost the Pistons an increasing amount of tax for each dollar they spend above that mark. They also have $72.5 million to spend before they hit the first apron, which not only has tax implications, but also competitive implications, with teams over the first apron barred from using certain levers to sign and trade for players.
The second apron, $85.5 million away, is even more punitive, with only two NBA teams currently in that realm as free agency approaches (Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder). Considering the Pistons have never even sniffed the first apron since the second apron was implemented in 2023, it’s fair to assume Detroit won’t be approaching the furthest threshold.
So as long as Pistons owner Tom Gores is willing to exceed the luxury tax threshold, we’ll call the first apron a hard cap for Detroit in the upcoming season, giving them at most $72.5 million to work with according to Spotrac.
How much can the Pistons upgrade with that money?
Pistons free agents to sign
Langdon has already indicated his intention to sign Duren and an eagerness to negotiate with Harris, the two biggest upcoming Pistons free agents.
If the Pistons stick to that commitment, then Duren would most likely be the most expensive contract the Pistons hand out this offseason. Our Pistons insider Omari Sankofa II thinks the Pistons would be agreeable to a five-year, $200 million deal, with the contract likely back-loaded to take advantage of a presumably rising salary cap after each season.
That would lock up the center for many years but also could realistically take up half of Detroit’s spending room for the 2026-27 season. That would leave plenty of room for the Pistons to keep the current roster intact and sign Harris, projected at $19 million per season according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. But if they want to sign Duren, sign Harris and extend star defender Ausar Thompson before he hits free agency next season (with the contract projected at 5 years, $135 million according to Spotrac), it will cost them a little more than they might be willing to spend.
To re-sign Duren, Harris and extend Thompson likely means going into the first apron or shedding salary via trades. The most realistic trade options would be shooter Duncan Robinson (making $15.9 million next season), center Isaiah Stewart ($15 million) or guard Caris LeVert ($14.8 million). Stewart might have the most value on an expiring deal, but he also might have the most value to the Pistons among those three as the team’s longest-tenured player and key bench piece.
And that doesn’t even consider what salary additions the Pistons would consider in a big-time trade, say for Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving or New Orleans Pelicans point guard Trey Murphy III. Murphy’s contract ($27 million in 2026-27) comes cheaper than Irving’s ($39.5 million), but that means the Pistons would have to give up more in draft capital to acquire Murphy than they would for Irving. That might not be ideal for a team that has found recent success developing a their drafted players like Cunningham, Duren and Thompson.
All-in-all, Langdon has many options to improve the Pistons with salary room heading into free agency. But his choices aren’t unlimited, which means Detroit might have to make some sacrifices to build a title-contending roster for next season.
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You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons salary cap space heading into 2026 free agency
Reporting by Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
