Despite six straight Eastern Conference finals appearances and one NBA championship it looks like the end of the current Detroit Pistons team is near. Without any doubts, this season has been a horrible nightmare for the franchise from Michigan. Being used to winning around 60 games a year, Detroit finished with a 39-43 record in 2008-09 and barely made it to the playoffs.

However, the first round playoff series versus Lebron James and the Cavaliers turned out to be a short-lived post-season appearance, ending with a 0-4 sweep. Inevitably, there is a heated debate about the future of the Pistons.

Fortunately, Detroit has a number of contracts coming off the books this summer providing many options for some fundamental changes to the current roster. More specifically, Allen Iverson, Antonio McDyess, Kwame Brown and Rasheed Wallace will become unrestricted free agents while Walter Herrman and Will Bynum are going to be restricted free agents. All of the aforementioned ending contracts combined will leave the Pistons roughly $20 million under the cap limit.

Considering the performance of these players this year it appears to be highly unlikely that Detroit will try to re-sign anyone except Will Bynum and possibly Antonio McDyess. While Rodney Stuckey and Rick Hamilton are viable backcourt options, Pistons fans can expect to see new faces in Detroit’s frontcourt.

As far as free agency goes, the Pistons’ management may go after all-star Carlos Boozer whose contract in Utah will come to an end. But the Pistons do also have interesting trade options: One on hand, they have the luxury of one first round draft pick and three second round picks. On the other hand, Tayshaun Prince may not have performed very well this year but still has considerable trade value. Moreover, the Pistons can chip in Amir Johnson’s contract that will end next season, and thus possibly providing cap space relief for the much anticipated 2010 free agent class.

One factor which may help the Pistons is the struggling economy and the connected cap limit drop which may force teams to desperately unload players in order to avoid paying luxury taxes. Whatever route the Pistons take, one thing is certain - they will look very different next season.