Depth moves position Pistons for the big swing...or not

The Detroit Pistons have been mentioned in just about every trade rumor so far, and that was before their internal drama with Jalen Duren went public, so Trajan Langdon has been busy. 

With all of the commotion, the Pistons have only made depth moves so far, sending out Isaiah Stewart, moving up in the draft to take Ebuka Okorie, trading for Isaiah Joe and re-signing free agent Kevin Huerter. 

The latter two moves are a clear attempt to address the shooting woes that hurt the Pistons all last season, as Joe is a legit 3-point shooter and Huerter has shown that skill in the past, though not recently. 

Huerter’s contract seems a bit rich, although I am sure we’ll find out the third and maybe even second years of it are options or not fully guaranteed, but added with Joe and others, the Pistons are suddenly in a much better position to make a big trade. 

The Pistons finally have some contracts 

One of the problems the Pistons have faced when trying any big trade is that they don’t have any large contracts to match salaries, which is why many believed they would trade Tobias Harris’ $25 million expiring deal last season. 

That didn’t happen, so the Pistons came into the offseason with the same issue. With only Caris LeVert’s expiring and Duncan Robinson’s non-guaranteed deal, the Pistons would have a hard time matching salaries in any star trade. 

With Joe and Huerter on board, the Pistons have added two movable deals to their roster, and when you add them to Robinson and LeVert, you suddenly have $50 million in tradable contracts.

I am not suggesting the Pistons are set to do that, as I have no idea what they are up to, but they are in a better position to do so than they were at the start of the offseason, whether the big swing happens or not. 

The Pistons aren’t giving away their plans 

One thing is for certain, no one can tell you with any degree of accuracy what the Pistons are up to this offseason. 

They’ve been attached to names I never would have expected (Jaylen Brown) and now have the possibility of losing Jalen Duren staring them in the face, which I am sure was not in the plans. 

It wouldn’t surprise me if Trajan Langdon was adding a bunch of movable deals for something bigger, but it also wouldn’t shock me at all if these were the kind of depth moves we get if the Pistons can’t find a trade they like. 

Fans don’t want to hear about patience, and the Pistons will only be allotted so much of it by a superstar who wants to win, so they have to make impact moves, it’s just unclear what those are going to be right now. 

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