Big trades could put Detroit Pistons in the driver’s seat

If you had to choose one word to describe the Detroit Pistons’ offseason, it might be “underwhelming.”

They didn’t use their cap space to land a big-time free agent, but instead kicked it down the road a year with trades for the expiring contracts of Joe Harris and Monte Morris.

It seemed like the entire league was at a standstill waiting for the trade of Damian Lillard and the eventual fallout, and when it finally happened, we saw a flurry of movement over the past few days.

Fans may be annoyed that the Detroit Pistons weren’t involved in any of it, as they still have some big roster questions, but player movement is good for Detroit and could set them up for future moves.

Will the Detroit Pistons be involved in the James Harden trade?

Now that Damian Lillard has been traded, the next unhappy star to be moved could be James Harden.

Harden has repeatedly expressed his disdain for Daryl Morey, who maintains that the 76ers have every intention of keeping him. But it seems unlikely given the rancor that is clearly there, so we could still see Harden traded before the season starts.

If so, the Detroit Pistons might be involved, as they not only have a nice player in Bojan Bogdanovic to use to help match contracts, but have the expiring deal of Joe Harris that could help grease the wheels of a trade.

As we saw with Lillard, it will be tough for Philly to deal Harden without multiple teams being involved, as few contenders have the matching contracts or assets to do it.

Detroit does have those contracts, and Bogdanovic is not just some throw in, as he could help any of the contending teams. This could put the Pistons in a good position to pile on some assets in the Harden deal depending on which other teams are involved.

Speaking of Bogdanovic…