Bogdanovic trade a huge win for the Detroit Pistons

After having a relatively quiet offseason, the Detroit Pistons have made a big unexpected trade with the Utah Jazz.

According to James Edwards III among others, the Pistons will send Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee to Utah in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic:

This looks like a huge win for the Detroit Pistons, as Bogdanovic is a very good player and Olnynk and Lee were not part of the future plans anyway.

It also makes sense for Utah, but less so, as they are trying to tank, but it seems they could have gotten a better deal than a couple of bench players.

But it’s nice to be on the right side of a lopsided trade, and this one is a big win for the Detroit Pistons in many ways.

Detroit Pistons trade: Adding Bogdanovic a home run

Just from a talent standpoint, this is a huge win for the Pistons, as Bogdanovic is easily the best player involved in this deal.

This is a guy who scored 18 points per game last year on a good team while shooting 38 percent from 3-point range on high volume. Yes, he’s 33-years-old and on an expiring deal, but he is a huge upgrade of talent at a position of need and will allow the Pistons to throw out a starting five that looks like this:

• Cade Cunningham
• Jaden Ivey
• Saddiq Bey
• Bojan Bogdanovic
• Isaiah Stewart/Marvin Bagley III

Olynyk was not good last season and Saben Lee was probably going to get waived, so this is a no-brainer for Detroit, as they just got a very good player and gave up practically nothing.

Detroit Pistons trade: Adding Bogdanovic a home run

Bogdanovic doesn’t just give the Pistons an upgrade of talent, but he is a much better fit on the roster than either of the guys they traded.

The Pistons had too many centers coming into training camp, and no real power forward, as both Isaiah Stewart and Marvin Bagley III are more comfortable playing center and can’t shoot.

That all changes now, as Bogdanovic is one of the best 3-point shooting forwards in the league, a guy who can play either forward position, which eases the logjam at center and makes the Pistons’ offense much-more dynamic.

This will allow them to bring MBIII off the bench as the primary backup center (or start him and bring Stew off the bench), a role he is much more suited for, while also allowing the Pistons to spread around the shooting so there is always at least 1-2 good shooters on the floor at the same time.

This is undoubtedly going to help Cade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, as Bogdanovic actually creates space, and it will allow the Pistons to not force feed either Stewart or Bagley III into the power forward spot.

There is really no way this doesn’t help the Detroit Pistons in terms of roster makeup, but there is one more reason this is great for Detroit.

Detroit Pistons trade: Adding Bogdanovic a home run

The Detroit Pistons can now try to get incrementally better, as Bogdanovic is enough of an upgrade to potentially put them in the play-in discussion.

Some fans won’t be happy about this, as they wanted to tank for Victor Wembanyama, and this move might be enough to ensure that doesn’t happen.

But we are a week from training camp, and Bogdanovic is on an expiring deal, so it will take some time for him to gel with the rest of the team and the Pistons don’t necessarily see him as part of of the long-term plans.

If it works out, great, the Pistons have taken the next step and are positioned to be the next bad team that gets good, but if it doesn’t, Bogdanovic is a far better trade chip than either Olynyk or Lee, so the Pistons could flip him to a contender at the deadline and possibly get more than Utah just did.

It’s a no-lose situation for the Pistons, who have some time to see how Bogdanovic fits, but don’t have to commit to him if he doesn’t. As someone who was hoping the Pistons weren’t going to egregiously tank again this season, I love this move, as it cost the Pistons nothing and gives them a chance to improve without disrupting the rebuild.