There seems to be a consensus among NBA pundits that the Detroit Pistons need one more impact move to put themselves into real contention.
I am not sure I agree with that, but there is no doubt that the Pistons could use a boost of offense from somewhere.
They are off to a 9-2 start despite an injury report as long as my arm, which has further ramped up talk about an impact addition that could push them over the top.
The first step is getting healthy, as the Pistons still don’t even know how good they can be at full strength, as we’ve yet to see it this season.
They can’t make any kind of move until their players are back in the lineup, but even when that happens, the Pistons may not have the kind of trade package necessary to acquire a star player.
Don’t expect a huge trade from the Detroit Pistons
I’ve been saying for months that I do not think the Pistons will make a “star” trade this season, but that doesn’t mean they won’t make an impact move. I just think it will be a more moderate upgrade than the Lauri Markkanen type of deal where they gut the roster and draft coffers.
This is especially true now that the Pistons look like a team that will be sustainably good, which makes their potential trade package far less attractive.
The Pistons only have their own picks with no extra first rounders, and if they are going to be a top 4-5 team in the Eastern Conference for the foreseeable future, which looks possible, then these picks aren’t going to be very good ones.
They are more likely to be in the 20’s, which suddenly makes those picks fairly worthless when it comes to acquiring a star player. Any team trading their star is likely to be kickstarting a rebuild, so will want high draft picks to try and land a future star of their own.
That’s not likely to happen with picks in the 20’s.
The Pistons’ best trade asset (Jaden Ivey) is hurt, so the best deal they can currently put together involves a guy who hasn’t played in a year and a bunch of late first-rounders, not exactly blockbuster material.
Otherwise, the Pistons would have to dip into their core of young players, which they don’t want to do. Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren are practically untouchable at this point, so Detroit may not even have enough to trade for a star when you look at the offers other teams could make.
That doesn’t mean they won’t make a deal, and I think they eventually will, but it will be a more modest upgrade and probably a player we haven’t talked about yet.