Detroit Pistons: Early injuries, big trades and Troy Weaver’s job

What about Bojan Bogdanovic’s trade value?

The Detroit Pistons decided not to trade Bojan Bogdanovic last season, as they claimed his value to them was higher than any of the offers they were getting. I wondered if the Pistons had waited too long on Bogdanovic and now it appears they might have.

He’s 34 years old and only has one non-guaranteed year left on his deal after this season, so there was a very high chance the Pistons were going to trade him at this year’s trade deadline after neglecting to do it last year.

The deadline isn’t until February, so Bogdanovic still has plenty of time to get healthy, come back and integrate himself with the team. He also has a long resume that teams can fall back on, so it’s not like he has to prove himself as a player, people know what Bojan brings to the table.

But what if he doesn’t get completely healthy? That’s not an unthinkable scenario given that Bogdanovic is in his mid-30’s and has a lot of miles on his legs. What if he’s not back by then or not playing well?

Bogdanovic is currently the team’s best and only real trade asset, so if he is not 100 percent healthy, you can forget about a big trade at the deadline. The Pistons would either have to give him away for nothing, buy his last season out and lose him for nothing or pick up his fully guaranteed year at $20 million, none of which are great options.

It’s possible they weren’t going to get much for Bogdanovic anyway, but any injury all but guarantees that outcome and prevents the Pistons from potentially using him in a big trade where they actually bring back talent.