The Detroit Pistons are still trying to bring Malik Monk to the Motor City as part of a sign-and-trade that will send Dennis Schroder to the Kings.
It was already announced that Schroder got a 3-year deal from Sacramento, but the Pistons have Bird rights so can still turn this into a sign-and-trade before July 6th. According to NBC, the Kings are trying to flip this into a bigger 3-team trade that would send Monk to the Pistons, Devin Carter and Dario Saric to the Warriors and Jonathan Kuminga to the Kings.
When it appeared that adding Monk could be the centerpiece of the offseason, it was less attractive, but now that the Pistons have added Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson, piling on even more scoring punch could give Detroit a formidable bench.
You can move people around depending on who you think should be starting, but the roster could look something like this if the trade goes through:
Cade Cunningham/Malik Monk/Marcus Sasser
Jaden Ivey/Caris LeVert
Ausar Thompson/Duncan Robinson/Ron Holland II
Tobias Harris/Bobi Klintman
Jalen Duren/Isaiah Stewart/Paul Reed
Monk isn’t really a point guard, and it would benefit the Pistons not to have to play him there. Same with Marcus Sasser.
But that is a ton of scoring coming off the bench and would give JB Bickerstaff plenty of ways to mix and match players so that there were always scorers and creators on the floor with an elite wing defender.
Trading out Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Dennis Schroder for Malik Monk, Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson would appear to be a win for the Pistons on paper but does raise one question.
Are the Detroit Pistons too small?
Remember, this hasn’t happened yet, but adding another guard to the roster Isn't going to calm any of the fears that the Pistons might be too small.
They still wouldn’t have a legit 7-footer on the team, and after dealing Simone Fontecchio in the Robinson trade, they have no backup power forward except 2nd-year man Bobi Klintman, who has barely played.
The Pistons could struggle against some of the jumbo teams in the Eastern Conference like Cleveland and Milwaukee, who run out giant frontcourts.
On the flip side, the Pistons would be bigger off the bench, as Schroder and Beasley were both small guards being replaced but LeVert and Robinson, who are both at least 6-foot-6.
It does put a lot of rebounding pressure on Jalen Duren and Isaiah Stewart, but the Pistons would also ask all of their wings and guards to step up in that regard.
The Detroit Pistons are on their way to having a dynamic scoring team with plenty of playmaking but there are still question marks around their size and 3-point shooting.