Do the Detroit Pistons have cap space in 2027-28?

Real payroll (contracts plus dead money) is $100.5M, which is $76.1M under the $176.6M cap. What erases the room is $83.2M in cap holds for their own free agents and unsigned picks; those count against the cap only, never the tax or aprons. Renouncing every free-agent hold (keeping draft picks) would open $67.6M of room, at the cost of their Bird rights.

So the Pistons are "over the cap" only in the cap-room sense. Like most of the league they build through exceptions (their mid-level if their tier allows one, minimums) and Bird rights to re-sign their own players.

This is a forward look at 2027-28: it counts the contracts, options, and cap holds already on the Pistons books for that season. Signings, trades, and option decisions between now and then will move these numbers.