Ranking the Detroit Pistons’ most valuable assets
Win Now Asset: Derrick Rose
Derrick Rose as an asset is a unique situation, especially considering the Pistons are going full rebuild. Not only is he outplaying his contract but he would be a perfect piece for a contender in need of a shot creator.
Despite his trade value, the Pistons opted to keep Derrick in Pistons blue after the trade deadline. Ed Stefanski pointed to Rose’s leadership and ability to mentor the young guys.
The value of leadership can’t be quantified but I’d imagine the Pistons would value a decent first-round pick more. But maybe the right trade offer just wasn’t there.
Maybe Tom Gores still wants to sell tickets and like Stefanski said, you do need veterans to mentor young players during a rebuild. And Rose’s contract, unlike Drummond’s player option, won’t hamper the Pistons’ flexibility going forward and he’ll still be very tradeable next season.
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Potential foundational pieces: Cap space, Christian Wood, 2020 first round draft pick
These are all valuable assets but they’re also all unknown quantities. Chrisitan Wood’s contract is up at the end of the year, the 2020 NBA draft is reportedly not very strong, and cap space can be used poorly.
But Stefanski’s decision making thus far has the Pistons trending towards a smarter organization than the one that handed out giant contracts to players like Reggie Jackson, Josh Smith, Ben Gordon, or Charlie Villanueva.
I trust Stefanski to take a swing on a high-upside draft pick like he did with Sekou Doumbouya, utilize the cap space in a way that can be parlayed into further future assets, and hopefully re-sign Christian Wood.
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And the Pistons have as good of a chance to sign Wood as any other team. The optimist in me would say the Pistons may have the best odds to sign Wood given they were the first franchise to give him substantial playing time. But in the words of Andre Drummond, “This is a business.”
“It’s going to be tough, all 30 teams are watching me,” said Wood to the Detroit Free Press in regards to his impending free agency.
Wood has the skills to be an offensive stud and re-signing him should be at the top of Stefanski’s to-do list this offseason.