This doesn’t mean the Pistons will simply punt on free agency. It is possible they do decide to use their cap space to acquire bad contracts and assets, fill in around the margins and run it back with another youth-heavy group. While I do believe that should have been the plan of attack the last few years, it feels too late in the rebuilding process for that to take place now, even though Langdon just arrived. It’s equally as possible, and I believe even more likely now, that Detroit uses its cap space to bring in a few proven players — someone like Malik Monk, Gary Harris and/or Nic Claxton for example — to raise the team’s floor, while allowing young players like Thompson, Ivey, Duren and the rookie to be important pieces in the rotation and develop without being relied upon to produce every single night at the level it takes to be a successful ballclub.