The trade that brought Rasheed Wallace to the Detroit is credited with being the final piece of a championship roster and the Pistons may be in a position to do it again soon.
Wallace only played 22 regular-season games for Detroit in the 2003-4 season, but his versatile defense and shot making were huge parts of the Pistons’ championship run.
They knocked off the heavily favored Lakers, who were expected to cruise to their 4th title in five seasons, but someone forgot to tell Detroit, who put a smackdown on LA and beat them in a gentleman’s sweep that essentially put an end to the Shaq/Kobe era.
The Pistons were already a good team that season, but the addition of Wallace pushed them over the top. The current Detroit roster may not be at that level yet, but if the Pistons overachieve in the first half of the season, we could see a repeat of the Rasheed Wallace trade.
Detroit Pistons rumors: Preparing for a big trade before the deadline
Trajan Langdon has made it clear that he’s not going to trade any of his young core until he sees what they are as a unit. The starting five of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson, Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren has barely played together, so Langdon is going to give them time to inch towards their ceilings as individual players and as a group.
How much time is anyone’s guess, but the Pistons do have some internal clocks ticking that could push them towards a big trade if they are in the right position and the right deal emerges. Both Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren are eligible for extensions, and if the Pistons don’t like what they are seeing, could be put on the trade block.
You also have Tobias Harris, who is on the final year of his contract, and could be included in a trade to match salaries, especially if the player coming back is a huge upgrade at power forward.
There may be some available depending on how next season unfolds, as Utah may finally decide to move Lauri Markkanen and there is an outside chance of Pascal Siakam being traded if Indiana flops and wants to reset around Haliburton when he returns.
Either of these players could be a big enough upgrade to push the Pistons into title contention, just as Sheed did for them back in 2004.
It’s too soon to know what trades will be out there, or which (if any) of the Pistons’ young core will be made available, but it’s something Langdon will consider as next year’s trade deadline approaches.