Detroit Pistons only going to trade if it obviously makes team better
Will the Detroit Pistons make a move before the trade deadline? According to Stan Van Gundy, only if it makes the team obviously better.
The Detroit Pistons are great one day, terrible for the next week, and then look amazing the next. This season has been a bit of a one step forward, two steps back in a lot of ways which raises questions about what the Pistons should do with their roster moving forward.
Or more immediately, what they should do before the trade deadline as the team passes the halfway point under .500 and out of the playoff race.
Stan Van Gundy weighed in on this very question.
"“The hard thing is I think this group has enough talent to be a lot better than we are,’’ Van Gundy said. “I think we have enough talent to make a run. It has been hard to judge them because we just haven’t been together and played as a group.“I think, in general, it would have to be a deal, at least in our minds, that is a pretty obvious step forward. We’re not looking to make change for the sake of making change.’’Van Gundy said the Pistons were able to acquire forward Tobias Harris and Jackson in past seasons because their teams — Orlando and Oklahoma City, respectively — didn’t want to pay them what the players thought they were worth.“We kind of took advantage of that,’’ Van Gundy said. “I don’t know that those kind of deals are going to come up now. It’ll be more straight basketball-type deals.’’"
This is probably how 99.8% of teams in the NBA feel, you know, other than the ones that are tanking.
Odds are the Pistons won’t find find a deal that is an “obvious step forward”, but it’s possible.
Van Gundy also makes an excellent point about continuity. Not only have the Pistons not been healthy, but adding two players to the rotation in Ish Smith and Jon Leuer has been an adjustment that still isn’t totally smooth.
Next: When will Kentavious Caldwell-Pope return?
Perhaps there’s a deal out there for the Pistons, though a smaller scale deal seems most likely. But if the Pistons were to stand pat I wouldn’t be upset. We have yet to see what this team looks like at its full strength.