1 contract every NBA team would want back
By Ian Levy
Detroit Pistons: Marvin Bagley III
In a vacuum, taking flyers on talented young players when their cost is dropping is exactly the kind of thing a rebuilding team needs to do when their books are mostly clear. But in retrospect, the Pistons might want a mulligan on Marvin Bagley.
They traded for him during the 2021-22 season, saw him for 18 games over the rest of the regular season and then signed him to a three-year, $37.5 million deal. It seemed like a reasonable gamble on the former No. 2 pick who had struggled to stay healthy and find a niche in Sacramento. But his injury struggles have continued — he appeared in just 42 games for Detroit last season and has now played in 208 of a possible 390 (53. percent) games across his five-year career.
He’s been productive in Detroit when he was on the court but the have him on the books for two more years and their frontcourt rotation has become increasingly crowded with Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and James Wiseman at least as much potential as Bagley and needing developmental minutes. And then there is Bojan Bogdanovic who will likely continue to play a lot of his minutes at the 4.
Bagley might still become an important piece for the Pistons but it seems just as likely he gets squeezed out and the Pistons have to try and dump his contract later this year to make room for rookie extensions for Wiseman, Stewart and Killian Hayes.