Detroit Pistons: 3 players who are already expendable

2. Ish Smith

Ish Smith was and is more valuable to the Pistons than Galloway, and in my opinion, Smith is simply a better basketball player than Galloway. But the fact that Smith’s contract expires after this season makes him much easier to trade and therefore more expendable.

In other words, even if the Pistons wanted to unload Galloway more, it’s more likely they’ll be able to find someone willing to take Smith off their hands.

With Jackson suffering through around injury-plagued season in 2017-18, Smith wound up starting 35 games at point guard and averaging 10.9 points and 4.4 assists per game in 82 appearances.

Smith was actually the only player on the Pistons to play in every game last season.

With this summer’s additions of the veteran Calderon (who was a favorite of Casey’s when the two worked together in Toronto) and the rookie Brown (who shined in Summer League), Smith could get pressed for playing time as the No. 2 point guard on the roster. If Jackson can stay healthy, the Pistons’ management may believe they can get by without Smith, who is 30 years old.

Smith is good enough to attract interest on the trade market from teams looking for depth at the position, and his $6.0 million salary that comes off the books in 2019 is a very trade-friendly contract.

Being expendable doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not valuable, and Smith is an example of that.