The Detroit Pistons should stand pat in this year’s trade deadline

The Detroit Pistons have been rumored to be interested in trading for a couple players. But the best option might be to stand pat in this year’s trade deadline.

In the last month; the Detroit Pistons have been exploring options to improve the roster via trade. Over the course of the month, players such as Dennis Smith Jr., Bradly Beal, Mike Conley, and Marc Gasol have popped up as trade possibilities for the team.

Although some may argue that trading for those players wouldn’t dramatically improve the team’s recent struggles; it’s obvious that the Pistons could do away with some of the players on their current roster.

So how should the Pistons come about on moving on from some of the current players in their roster? What’s the best solution if the team is looking to compete next season?

The best play for the Pistons may be to stand pat in this year’s February 7th’s trade deadline. Making drastic changes to the roster before the deadline could lead to frightening repercussions.

And according to the Senior Adviser of the Detroit Pistons Ed Stefanski; the Pistons are looking to make the playoffs and will not make a deal that would hurt the franchise going forward.

Stefanski also added:

"“The word people don’t want to hear is patience. Where we have (cap) restrictions, there’s nothing else but to be patient… I’m not a big fan of just trying to totally rip it down and start all over again. You have to get lucky and that could go the wrong way. That could be years of heartache and I don’t think we need to be there.”"

So from the words of Ed Stefanski; the Pistons aren’t really looking to make a blockbuster trade before the deadline.

Benefits of standing pat

So the Pistons stand pat in this year’s deadline.. They sit with the same roster for the remainder of the season.. Do they make the playoffs standing pat like Stefanski was hoping for? How did that benefit the team in any way?

Well first of all, the front office can point the blame for the disappointing season towards former Detroit Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy. The team was locked up in the cap sheet and the roster was full of Stan Van Gundy era players. There was absolutely no flexibility to make changes to the roster.

Going into the 2019 off-season, there will be 12 NBA Teams that will have 25+ million dollars freed up in cap space to spend in free agency. This could open things up for the Pistons as they can give up some of their large contracts to a team willing to take back assets in the trade. A team like the Chicago Bulls or Atlanta Hawks could eat both Reggie Jackson and Jon Leuer‘s contract including a first round pick in order to get cap relief for the Pistons.

Another possibility could be a team’s interest in Andre Drummond. With 12 teams having 25 million in cap space freed up, teams might feel a little less frightened of Drummond’s contract.

The most important benefit of the Pistons standing pat is that they don’t make a trade that hurts them in future seasons.

Luke Kennard is still a young gunning shooting guard with plenty of potential. He’s locked up for another 2 seasons after the 2018-2019 season. In recent games for the team, he’s shown his full potential as a sweet shooter for the team.

Reggie Bullock has arguably been the Pistons’ second best option on offense this season. Although he’s looking for a huge payday this off-season; he has been the team’s best and consistent shooter. Resigning him could end up trading him for a risk-type player.

And of course, trading Drummond before the deadline could potentially be a horrible decision from the front office. The Pistons cannot afford to lose out on Drummond’s rebounding this season. One of the few positive offensive stats for Drummond has been his ability to create second chance points for the team.

And if they trade Drummond now; there is probably a good chance they get less than equal value back for him. The worst thing you wouldn’t want to see is Drummond flourishing on a different team if the Pistons gave up on him too early. He is still 25 years old and waiting one more year to see if he can develop a lethal offensive game might be a better play for the Pistons. He’s shown that he is a hard worker to get better.

With all that, don’t be surprised if the Pistons stood pat. It might be the better play in the long run.