Mason Plumlee Signs Three-Years, $25M Deal With Detroit Pistons
Entering the offseason, the Pistons were a team that was expected to be aggressive in free agency as they had close to $37M in cap space. Detroit is a team that has been near the bottom of the Eastern Conference for the last decade as they have only made the Playoffs twice since the 2009-10 season, and seems like they have been rebuilding for years.
After being aggressive on draft night and landing three first-round picks in Killian Hayes (Pick #7), Saddiq Bey (Pick #19), Isaiah Stewart (Pick #16) and Saddiq Bey (Pick #19), the Pistons continued building a solid roster for the future as they signed Jerami Grant to a three-year, $60M contract. Grant is coming off a great year with Denver and after being a heavily pursued free agent this offseason, he chose to sign with Detroit and be one of their main contributors for years to come.
The Pistons also made the move to bring in another former Nuggets player in Mason Plumlee with a three-year, $25M deal. With the amount of big man talent that was available in free agency and since their price was way down this year, it was kind of a shock to see Detroit spend this much money on Plumlee.
In three full years with Denver, Plumlee never averaged more than 7.8 points per game, and brought in an average of 5.7 rebounds per game. He is not a stretch big and does not play anywhere outside the paint, so it is strange to see a low-post player with no ability to shoot get paid as much as he is going to get paid by Detroit.
Detroit is already paying former All-Star big man Blake Griffin $36.6M this upcoming season, which is why they did not have to spend a lot of money on a back-up center. Especially since they drafted Isaiah Stewart and have the young forward in Sekou Doumbouya, who can play either on the wing or in the post. It is a very questionable move for sure to sign Plumlee to a $25M contract when he really has not proven anything over the course of his seven year career and does not fill an immediate need for the Detroit Pistons.
