The Detroit Pistons have had a ho-hum trade deadline so far, making a pair of moves that aren’t going to excite anyone but the accountants.
After trading for KJ Martin and two second-round picks from Philly, the Pistons took on two minimum expiring contracts and another second-rounder in the Jimmy Butler deal.
I won’t try to pretend like these are exciting moves, as they are not, but I do think second-round picks will be increasingly more valuable in the Apron Era and the Pistons now have a boatload of them.
I do get why some fans are growing impatient with this strategy, as the Pistons seem to be on the cusp of being good and it’s logical to want to increase those chances, especially for fans that have been treated to nothing but misery for years.
I also think it’s valid to want the Pistons to get someone to decrease Cade Cunningham’s workload, as he’s been doing this without a reliable scoring option since Jaden Ivey went out and it has to be taking its toll.
The good news is that the Pistons are over the roster limit, so for those fans hoping to see more moves, you are going to, and depending on how Detroit works the deals they’ve already made, they can still have all of their cap space to use before today’s deadline.
Detroit Pistons cap space
The Pistons had $14 million in cap space coming into the trade deadline and they can still have that same amount to make further moves before 3:00 PM ET.
The Pistons have both the room exception and minimum salary exceptions to use, and the players they just took on can fit into them, giving Detroit a chance to make another deal with their cap space, as is explained here by HoopsRumors.
“It’s worth noting that the Pistons could theoretically fit Martin into their $8MM room exception and take on Waters and Richardson using the minimum salary exception, which means their $14MM in cap room could still be used for a separate trade before they complete their two reported agreements. We’ll see if that ends up happening before Thursday’s deadline.”
This doesn’t mean that Trajan Langdon is going to make a blockbuster move, but he essentially has the same opportunity as before the two trades from yesterday, only now he is three second-round picks richer.
More moves will come today, as the Pistons have to cut at least one player, maybe two depending on the order of their deals and how they were completed.
Fans may not get the guy on the top of the wish list, but the Pistons still have a chance to get Cade Cunningham some help.