Simulating the Offseason for the Detroit Pistons

Trades

With Aron Baynes opting into his contract, Boban Marjanovic’s contract seemed a bit inflated for a third-string center. I struck a deal with the Lakers sending Marjanovic and a second round pick in 2018 for Ivica Zubac. Zubac’s no Boban, but per 36 minutes he is averaging 16.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg, and 2.0 bpg. For a third string center that is only 19 years old, I’d say this trade was a no-brainer.

Post-Boban trade, the Pistons were still about $2.5 million above the luxury tax line so I decided to look for additional inflated contracts.

In this next trade I sent a 2019 second round pick and Jon Leuer with his $10.5 million per year to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Taj Gibson. Taj Gibson provides about $3 million in cap relief, but Gibson isn’t a three-point shooter and might not fit perfectly in Stan Van Gundy’s system. If Gibson were to join the team, Tobias Harris would slide to the power forward spot and Gibson would be his backup.

Unfortunately, I had to cut Michael Gbinije to cut the roster down to 15 players.

Final Rotation

PG Reggie Jackson, Ish Smith, Udrih

SG Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Wayne Ellington, Luke Kennard

SF Marcus Morris, Stanley Johnson, Michael Beasley

PF Tobias Harris, Taj Gibson, Henry Ellenson

C Andre Drummond, Aron Baynes, Ivica Zubac

I went ahead and simulated the 2017-18 season to see if the team I created improved upon the 37-45 10th place finish they had in the previous year.

The upgraded roster proved to be successful. The Detroit Pistons finished with a 41-41 record and managed to capture the 8th seed in the playoffs.

Next: Pistons trade up and grab Monk in mock draft

Hey Pistons, if there’s an opening for assistant GM, my DMs are open.