If the Pistons end up buyers, these 3 players are worth kicking the tires on

If anyone believes that Troy Weaver’s sole NBA trade deadline concentration is extracting what he can from veterans Bojan Bogdanovic, Alec Burks and Nerlens Noel, they haven’t paid attention to his time in charge of the Detroit Pistons. He will be busy looking for talent at the deadline, as well as in the offseason.

Here are three possible players he could bring to the Motor City that would get fans excited.

3 players the Detroit Pistons should be asking about

John Collins

John Collins may not make for a thrilling acquisition, but he is capable of playing thrilling basketball. The 25-year-old is one of the game’s premier above the rim power forwards. His numbers have been trending in the wrong direction since he put up nearly 20 and 10 as a sophmore, but that might play to a shrewd team’s advantage – particularly one with some cap space. Atlanta has had trouble finding a partner willing to take on the responsibility of paying Collins $75 million over the next three seasons. That has to have driven the asking price down on the big with elite defensive switch-ability.

OG Anunoby

Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale seems to think it’s basically a coin toss when trying to determine whether OG Anunoby or Scottie Barnes is the better asset for the Raptors to shop around. He settles on Barnes, which I tend to agree with. One reason he gives is that any team that trades for Barnes gets him on his rookie contract, while Anunoby is nearing a big free-agent payday. I’ll go the other way, because it just so happens that Barnes came out of the same draft class as Cade Cunningham, and the one before Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren. Those are three big-time contracts to negotiate when the time comes and I don’t see the logic in adding another in Barnes. Anunoby, however, will be well into his big money deal by then and if need be, we can put him back on the block at that time in order to free up space for our homegrown big three.

Anunoby would be the toughest to acquire, as the Raptors are going to want a king’s ransom for him, but depending on how things go for Toronto this season, and where the Pistons end up in the draft, there are possibilities.

In the end, Detroit may be best served waiting until he is a free agent, but if Anunoby really does hit the trade market, the Pistons should at least find out what it would take to get him, as he’d be the perfect wing to put next to Cade Cunningham.

Kyle Kuzma

For the sake of not overthinking this, I’ll point to an obvious candidate in Kyle Kuzma. While some might protest that he doesn’t fit the current Pistons’ timeline for success, I say that the 28-year-old former NBA champion who, besides scoring the basketball is a versatile defender like the two other players on this list, would be a very nice addition to our squad. Add to that his recent $1 million donation to the YMCA in his hometown of Flint and the reasons for his candidacy are obvious.

Kuzma is likely to be a free-agent after this season, as he has just a player option for $13 million and will get more on the open market. But if the Wizards decide to move him (not as likely now after the Hachimura trade) Detroit would be wise to get involved to see if they can bring Kuzma in, win him over and get him to sign an extension to stay.