NBA trade rumors: Sources think Pistons not playing games at deadline

The Detroit Pistons are in the will they/won’t they stage of the NBA trade deadline with just seven days to go before trade season is officially closed.

The main target has been Bojan Bogdanovic, who has been attached to a number of teams in rumors, but the Pistons have kept their cards close to their chest about what it might actually take to acquire him in a deadline deal other than to say, “a lot.”

Recently, Bogdanovic himself revealed that Detroit told him he was part of their future plans, and that the team hopes to be “great” next season.

When you look around the league at possible trades for Bogdanovic, there aren’t many that would make the Pistons better next year, and if their goal is to compete, then trading him for future draft capital is not the way to do it.

Keeping him is likely the better option, at least for now, and it seems as though that is the way the Detroit Pistons are leaning as the deadline inches closer.

Detroit Pistons: Stance at deadline is not posturing

We know teams love to posture at the deadline, making bold proclamations in an effort to change the market or drive up prices.

But sources around the league are increasingly certain that Detroit is not playing games according to insider Marc Stein (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED):

"“More and more, as the deadline draws near, I hear rival teams saying that they believe Detroit is poised to rebuff all trade inquiries for Bojan Bogdanović. I was certainly among those who thought it was posturing when Detroit’s reluctance to trade Bogdanović began to surface many weeks ago, but one league source went so far as asserting this week that the Pistons would refuse to surrender Bogdanović even if offered that fully unprotected future first-round pick that everyone says Detroit covets.”"

There are good reasons for the Pistons to walk away from most of the proposed deals we have seen this trade season. The biggest is that it doesn’t really matter if a pick from a contender is “unprotected” as it is likely to be lousy anyway.

I’ve looked at the odds of landing an impact player with a late-first round pick and they are predictably low.

Another reason is that Bojan Bogdanovic signed an extension, so the Pistons have him under contract next season at a good price and the season after that is not fully guaranteed, so he will still have value at this time next year if the Pistons are out of it again or need to shuffle up their roster. His value is not likely to decline much, as that same crappy pick and expiring contracts are probably going to be there at the next trade deadline.

The Detroit Pistons have held their ground this trade season and refused to be a talent feeder for the rest of the league and it’s starting to look like that was more than just them trying to drive up the price.