Last season, the Detroit Pistons added backup point guard Dennis Schroder at the trade deadline, a move that helped them make the playoffs.
They could look for a similar low cost/high impact move at this year’s trade deadline by targeting Coby White or Ayo Dosunmu of the Chicago Bulls.
The Pistons are in a tough spot, as they want to boost the team in an effort to win the Eastern Conference, but don’t want to do so at the expense of the core they have built. The Pistons do have a $14.2 million trade exception, so could add either White or Dosunmu for the cost of draft capital, as they wouldn’t have to send a contract back.
The Bulls are in their familiar spot in the 10th seed, and both of these players will be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season, so Chicago has motivation to trade them before losing them for nothing. Of course, it’s the Bulls, so you never know what they are going to do, as their owners seem to think making the play-in is akin to winning a title.
Both White and Dosunmu would be fits on the Pistons in different ways and are guys who would provide maximum impact for less than the cost of the TPE.
Coby White would give the Pistons more scoring pop
I’ve written about Coby White a few times since it was reported that he was available, and though he’s having a down year shooting from long range, he’s still a great option for the price.
White is a legit shooter who would give the Pistons another option to turn to who is not named Cade Cunningham. While White isn’t a superstar or even an All-Star, he’s a more consistent scoring option than any the Pistons currently have behind Cade.
He’s also a guy who can create his own shot, get to the hoop and occasionally drop 30 points, which is a nice weapon to have in the playoffs.
White would be a rental that the Pistons likely wouldn’t want to pay $30 million a year, so they’d be paying draft assets for a short-term solution.
Ayo Dosunmu is a culture fit
I’ve always liked Ayo Dosunmu, who is a Swiss Army knife of a role player who can do a little of everything and gets after it on the defense end.
He’s a strong perimeter defender who can guard multiple positions and knock down the occasional 3-point shot. He’s been a wildly inconsistent 3-point shooter in his career but is hitting a career-best 45 percent from behind the arc this season.
You can’t count on Dosunmu for big scoring (though he's averaging 14 a game), but his defense and intangibles would fit right into the Pistons’ culture.
He’s also not a guy who will command a huge contract, so the Pistons might be able to keep him around for a deal similar or even less than the one they gave Isaiah Stewart or Caris LeVert.
White offers the immediate scoring punch the Pistons lack, but would likely be a short-term rental, while Dosunmu could potentially be a valuable 3-and-D role player for years to come.
Either of these players would provide the Pistons a nice boost without costing them a core player or any long-term obligations.