NBA trade season officially started yesterday, and as usual, the Detroit Pistons were underwhelming.
They dumped Paul Reed to avoid paying his full salary and promoted Javante McCoy from the G-League to get above the minimum salary floor.
It’s not the type of move that screams playoffs, and even though the trade deadline is still nearly two months away, the Pistons may have tipped their hand here.
If they were serious about pursuing the play-in, they could have made a move for a player like Dennis Schroder, but instead they promoted a G-Leaguer who isn’t likely to play much, showing that Trajan Langdon may be more concerned about keeping his 2025 draft pick than winning this season.
You can’t rule out future moves, as the Pistons have roster and cap space, but I’d expect them to be more of the salary dump variety than one that will meaningfully improve the roster.
And maybe that’s fair. This team is a long way from actually being good, so giving up assets for a win-now veteran may not be pragmatic. At least the Pistons are flexible! That old tune never gets old.
If the Pistons are looking harder at the draft than the playoffs, they will find it’s not as easy to tank (I don’t think they’ll do that outright anyway) this season as in the past.
Detroit Pistons 2025 draft pick: Where does it stand right now?
The Pistons pick is top-13 protected, so if the season ended right now, they would keep it and likely be picking somewhere in the 7-10 range.
They’d still have a small chance at the top pick and around a 26 percent chance of jumping into the top four. Obviously, the dream scenario if the Pistons go this route is to finally be rewarded in the lottery with a top-3 pick, but the odds would favor something in the 7-10 range.
Washington, New Orleans, Utah, Toronto, Charlotte, Philly and Portland are all teams that are either horrible now or could be after the trade deadline when they blow up their rosters.
Almost all of them have had significant injuries and it’s not likely the Pistons drop below them unless they have some of their own.
If the Pistons are in the draft lottery, it probably won’t be at the top, but that doesn’t mean they can’t fill a need in the 2025 Draft.
Sharpshooting wings in the 2025 NBA Draft
The Pistons have drafted athletic, defensive wings in the last two drafts, but neither of them can shoot.
They still lack shooting on the wing, so while I am sure Langdon will talk about “best player available,” the Pistons cannot draft another player who can’t shoot.
They should have plenty of guys to choose from, as players like Kon Knueppel, Tre Johnson and Kasparas Jakucionis are all mocked in that range right now and can shoot it from long range.
Knueppel and Jakucionis (who is more of a lead guard with size) also interest me as guys who can create, make plays and pass as well as knock down 3-point shots.
It’s still early, but this is a deep draft and the Pistons might be able to find a future starter in the top-10.
But for those of us not ready to start paying attention to college basketball, the Pistons still have options.
Pistons trade rumors
Detroit still has cap space and a roster spot, and the trade deadline is not until February, so the Pistons still have plenty of time to make a move.
All of the players (other than Dennis Schroder) who were available yesterday are still available today, so if the Pistons wanted a guy like Cam Johnson, Zach LaVine, Brandon Ingram or Anfernee Simons (please no), they could still go out and get him.
But if they were going to do that, why wait? Surely, you’d want as much time as possible for that player to get acclimated with his new teammates and to help generate wins to push for the play-in tournament.
We may be stuck with a dud of a deadline if the Pistons are content to just ride this out and keep their pick, which is the only indication we have so far.