The Detroit Pistons have a lot on their plate this offseason.
Not only do they have to find their next head coach, but the roster needs revamped if the team is truly going to climb out of the cellar next season and compete in the Eastern Conference.
They have a top-5 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, as well as the 31st, and that second pick could end up being valuable as a sweetener in a trade to better balance the roster and add some talent at positions of need.
One team that could be active on the trade market this summer is the Brooklyn Nets, who dealt Kevin Durant in a blockbuster at the deadline and will now look to retool around the players and picks they received after getting swept in the 1st round of the playoffs.
Detroit Pistons: Possible trade with the Brooklyn Nets
The trade of Kevin Durant left the Nets with a surplus of players on the wing, as they not only have Cameron Johnson and Mikal Bridges, but also Royce O’Neale and Dorian Finney-Smith.
The Detroit Pistons have a logjam at center, and need to add talent on the wing, so there may be a deal between the two teams, as each have a too much of what the other needs.
Here’s a possible swap that could benefit both teams, help balance the Detroit Pistons’ roster and improve their defense.
Detroit Pistons: Possible trade of Marvin Bagley III to the Nets
After trading for James Wiseman, Marvin Bagley III may be redundant, as the two have similar skill sets. Troy Weaver has talked endlessly about wanting to have a bigger team, but you also need players that can shoot and neither of these guys can.
Wiseman is the younger player with the higher ceiling, and could also be cheaper going forward, so he is the logical choice. That makes Marvin Bagley III possible trade bait this summer. As much as the Pistons might want to believe MBIII can play power forward, there is no evidence of that yet, so keeping him could relegate him to the 3rd center on the team. Trading him now makes sense.
The problem is that MBIII has not been able to stay healthy, so the Detroit Pistons may have to add an asset to get back anything of value. Here is a trade that might work for both teams:
In this trade, the Pistons get a defensive wing who can shoot some, and the Nets get a backup center who can score.
So which team would say no?
Detroit Pistons: Possible trade of Marvin Bagley III to the Nets
On paper, this trade would benefit both teams, as the Nets don’t have any scoring punch behind starting center Nic Claxton and trading for MBIII would save them some money.
They would immediately get about $1.5 million in cap space next season and Bagley’s contract runs one year less than Finney-Smith’s.
The Nets would also get the very first pick in the 2nd round of the 2023 NBA Draft, which they could use to add some young talent to their pipeline or possibly package with their two first-round picks to make a move for an impact player to add to their roster.
However, the Nets were reportedly offered two late firsts for DFS at the trade deadline and turned it down, so they clearly think highly of him and this may not be enough.
As for the Detroit Pistons, this is a no-brainer, as MBIII hasn’t been able to stay on the court, and even if he could, he might be buried in the depth chart anyway. Detroit may need to go into next season with four centers (if you count Isaiah Stewart) but one of them should be a defensive veteran and Bagley does not meet the description.
DFS would immediately help shore up their wing defense and give them a solid veteran on a reasonable contract. He would open up a lot of lineup possibilities and help balance their roster without breaking the bank.
The question is whether the Nets would have any interest in a guy who only managed to play 42 games this season and whether they think they could find a suitable backup center for less money.