The Detroit Pistons are the biggest will they/won’t they team heading into the NBA trade deadline.
As the 6th seed with a guy playing at an All-NBA level in Cade Cunningham, the Pistons could decide that now is as good at time as any to try and land a player who can help fill the scoring gap left by Jaden Ivey’s absence.
They could also decide to just stand pat, take on a contract for draft assets and wait to land that star next offseason, a strategy I am not against, though it would be nice to get Cunningham some kind of help.
Zach LaVine has been mentioned as a possibility many times and I have brought up Lonzo Ball as an option (that I like) and even Nikola Vucevic has been mentioned for the Pistons, though that talk has cooled with the improved play of Jalen Duren.
But there are two other Bulls player who could help them now in guards Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu.
Why Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu might be available
Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu are two of the best value contracts in the NBA, as they are making $12 and 7 million this season, respectively, with one more year left on their deals at around the same price, which is a bargain for guys who produce.
Those contracts have made it impossible for the Bulls to extend them because of the 140% rule and the big raises they are going to get on their next deals, so with just a year left on their contracts, the two are going to hit free agency after next season, which may prompt the Bulls to trade them now, even though both guys are 25 or younger.
White would be the more expensive option but is a clear fit as a high-volume 3-point shooter who can create and set up teammates. He could be the secondary option the Pistons need, but would also cost the most to acquire if the Bulls did make him available.
Given his lowball contract, other teams would be interested if Chicago wanted to trade him, so White could be an option, albeit a pricey one.
Dosunmu is in the same situation contract-wise, so is another guy who the Bulls will have to bid on in free agency if they let him get there, potentially losing him for nothing after next season.
Dosunmu’s shooting numbers are down a bit this season, but he’s a 3-and-D guard who can defend multiple positions, handle the ball and little and hit shots. He’d fit right into the Pistons’ culture and give them another elite perimeter defender.
Could the Pistons get him for multiple second-round picks? If I were Trajan Langdon, I’d find out, especially considering they’d get him for next season at just $7.5 million.
If the Bulls really did want to tank to keep their 2025 pick, trading these two players would help and they’d find it far easier than moving LaVine or Vucevic given their bloated contracts.