Trajan Langdon and the Pistons have made their first significant addition of the offseason: John Collins is coming to Detroit on a three-year, $51 million deal, per reports.
The Pistons, per Shams Charania, "pursued Collins as their top target to assume an expected starting role at power forward."
A nine-year vet, Collins averaged 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in 69 games (56 starts) for the Clippers last season, below his career averages. But he shot 40.6 percent from three, one of the best marks in the NBA among frontcourt players. And he shot 39.9 percent from three the season prior. He should help the Pistons space the floor.
Landgon wanted to improve the shooting, ball-handling and spacing around Cade Cunningham this offseason. Collins is a step toward doing that. The Pistons also traded last week for sharpshooting guard Isaiah Joe, who should give them a good weapon off the bench.
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Detroit's starting power forward the past two seasons was Tobias Harris, who's a free agent. Langdon originally expressed a strong interest in bringing Harris back, but it sounds like the Pistons aren't willing to offer Harris the guaranteed money he's seeking. He will likely sign elsewhere, unless he takes a discount to stay.
Harris was the team's third leading scorer last season behind Cunningham and Jalen Duren and was a valued leader for a young team, on and off the floor, in his two seasons in Detroit. His scoring and rebounding numbers last year were almost identical to Collins', but Collins shot much better from three and is five years younger.
Meanwhile, it sounds as if the Pistons will keep Duncan Robinson. They could have saved $14 million in cap space by waiving their top three-point shooter from last season, but will likely move on from Harris instead. Harris carried a cap hit of about $25 million the past two seasons.
Moving out Harris would allow Collins to step into Detroit's starting lineup, likely next to Duren, with the Pistons committed to keeping their 22-year-old All-Star center.
