Pistons news: Detroit trying to trade Killian Hayes and not a center?

The Detroit Pistons have been involved in several trade rumors recently, which makes sense given the makeup of their roster.

Detroit has a lot of big men and guards, and likely won’t have minutes for them all, so they could look to deal from their surplus to bring back more depth at forward.

The primary candidates for trade are Marvin Bagley III, James Wiseman and Killian Hayes, all guys who may have been pushed to the fringes of the rotation.

Given their injury history, it might not be the worst idea to carry four bigs, though it does seem financially imprudent to be paying two backups $25 million combined when one of them might not even play.

The same could be said of the guard group, which may have one player too many after the additions of Monte Morris and Marcus Sasser.

So will the Detroit Pistons cut a deal before the season starts? They’ve been trying according to once source.

Pistons news: Detroit trying to trade Killian Hayes and not a center?

Troy Weaver and the Detroit Pistons seemed determined to use big lineups next season, though we will see how new head coach Monty Williams feels about that once the games get real.

Detroit has been mentioned in rumors with the Dallas Mavericks since the trade deadline, and it appears the two have come to a standstill over the cost the Mavs should have to pay if they want to get their hands on Bojan Bogdanovic.

According to Marc Stein (SUBSCRIPTION), the Pistons are trying to unload Killian Hayes in the deal, but so far, the Mavs aren’t biting:

"“Recent trade talks between Detroit and Dallas, I’m told, were sparked by the Pistons’ determination to ease a backcourt logjam by trading Killian Hayes and gained little traction.While the Mavericks are indeed among the teams with a longstanding interest in acquiring Detroit’s Bojan Bogdanović, their trade priority at this point of the offseason is still believed to be an upgrade at center. The Pistons have been seeking no less than a future first-round pick for Bogdanović for months.”"

So at least at this point, the Pistons seem more interested in trading from their surplus of guards rather than from the center position. Detroit doesn’t seem that intent on trading Bogdanovic unless they can get the Mavericks to take on another player in the deal and to add a first-round pick, things which they seem reluctant to do.

If Dallas is so keen on a center, why not work something from that angle? Marvin Bagley III has two years left on his deal, so getting rid of him would be a bigger financial gain than trading Killian Hayes, but Dallas may want more to take on MBIII’s deal since it comes with a second year.

This gives some insight into the Pistons’ intentions this summer, which appear to be balancing the roster and gaining more financial flexibility, two words I know fans are getting sick of hearing.