Should the Detroit Pistons cash in on Bojan Bogdanovic now?

The Detroit Pistons should keep Bojan Bogdanovic

I think the argument for keeping Bogdanovic is simple: At some point you have to choose talent over hope if you really want to “restore” this franchise.

Bogdanovic is a damn good player, so moving him for a distant pick is just kicking the can down the road again and telling fans you have no plans on winning for the next season or two. Has anyone else had enough of this?

We didn’t get to see much of Bojan with Cade, but a shooter like him is always going to be a fit around a guy who creates gravity and makes plays, so we can assume the two will be just fine together even though the sample size is small so far.

Sure, a trade for another star could present itself at some point, but the reality is that Bogdanovic is probably better than any player they are going to get in free agency, and is a guy they would have targeted had he not been traded to Detroit and subsequently extended.

Any trade for Bogdanovic is going to make the Pistons worse now and there is not guarantee there will be a payoff for more losing, as the packages being floated around mostly revolve around protected 1st-round picks.

Even if the Pistons lucked out and got a really good player in the draft outside of the lottery, it will be years before that player is on the level of Bogdanovic and in reality, it’s unlikely that anyone they draft will end up being as good.

This guy is scoring 20+ points and is just percentage points from the 50/40/90 club. There have been six players in the HISTORY OF THE NBA who have done that. Good luck getting that kind of production from an unknown in the draft.

Pistons fans have been patient, but you can’t sell hope forever, and if the team stinks again next season, you can expect fans to start calling for the heads of Dwane Casey and even Troy Weaver, which is happening in some circles already.

There’s also the fact that they can always move Bogdanovic later after they’ve seen how this team all fits together and what they can add next offseason. His value is probably the highest it’s ever going to be, but if it tops out at a protected first-round pick and a bunch of garbage players, who really cares?

I guarantee you that there will be a late first round pick available for Bogdanovic if they decide to trade him next season, when he would only have one partially-guaranteed year left on his contract.

At some point you have to try to win, otherwise what is the point?