"While the Pistons haven't been drawing the national headlines during this free-agency frenzy, they haven't exactly sat idle, either.

They've addressed two of their top three priorities with the re-signing of Tayshaun Prince and Jonas Jerebko, along with the buyout of Richard Hamilton for a reasonable amount.

A source told The Detroit News on Saturday the buyout is in the neighborhood of $8 million. Taking these transactions into account, along with the rookie-scale contracts of Brandon Knight and Vernon Macklin, the Pistons will pay approximately $56 million in player salaries.

This season's salary cap is $58 million and the luxury tax kicks in at slightly more than $70 million. Rodney Stuckey is still out there as a restricted free agent and the Pistons could also sign another big man with an exception.

"It's three different mid-levels you can use," Pistons president Joe Dumars said Friday. "We have one ($5 million exception) at our disposal. The (collective bargaining agreement) was 500 pages. We're trying to read it (all), digest it.""