December 15th marks the unofficial start of the NBA trade season, as it’s the first day that players signed over the offseason can be traded, a list that includes several Detroit Pistons.
Duncan Robinson, Caris LeVert and Javonte Green are all eligible to be traded as of today, though there is certainly no urgency on the part of the Pistons to do so, as they are 20-5 and in first place in the Eastern Conference.
We will likely see some wheeling and dealing around the league over the next hours, as players who are traded today can still be aggregated into trades before the deadline, which will be important to teams looking to stockpile assets for a big trade.
Will the Pistons be one of those teams? That is just one of the franchise-defining questions Detroit will have to answer between now and the NBA trade deadline.
Will the Detroit Pistons go big at the trade deadline?
This could always change, but all signs are pointing towards a big no on this one.
Trajan Langdon isn’t willing to trade away multiple parts of his young core at this stage and you can’t really blame him, as they’ve all made progress and he still hasn’t even seen what they can be at full strength with Jaden Ivey still working his way back in off the bench.
The Pistons have been connected to just about every “available” star, but that may be more fan fiction than reality, and some of these guys aren’t really available anyway.
This all adds up to more patience from Detroit, and why not? It has worked for them so far and it’s hard to argue with the results at this point. We’ll see how we feel about this in February.
Will the Pistons consolidate or stay deep?
Coach JB Bickerstaff has been running out an 11-man rotation and played all 13 of his guys in the blowout win over Atlanta, so depth has not been a problem for Detroit.
But no team plays this many guys forever, especially in the playoffs, so it will be interesting to see if Langdon can consolidate some of his talent for an upgrade. We’ve mentioned both Keon Ellis and Jose Alvarado as possibilities, which wouldn’t be the exciting name some fans are hoping for, but are guys who would fit the culture and add to it.
I would bet against a big trade from the Pistons, but I could definitely see them try to improve around the fringes by adding another shooter or ball handler.
What about the expiring contracts?
This is where it gets tough, as the Pistons have Tobias Harris on an expiring contract that will make him an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. If the Pistons do make a big trade, Harris will likely be involved, as his $26 million will be needed to match up salaries.
If that trade doesn’t come, the Pistons do risk losing Harris for nothing, but he’s an important part of what they are doing who is more valuable to Detroit than he is as a trade asset. Detroit could always bring him back in a smaller role as a free agent, which would be great, as I would love to see Harris finish his career in Detroit.
But Harris isn’t the only one on an expiring deal.
Will the Pistons trade Jaden Ivey?
Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren will both be restricted free agents at the end of the season. Duren is a no-brainer to re-sign but it’s more complicated with Ivey.
Everyone loves Ivey’s potential, but his role isn’t as clear, so we could see the Pistons move him at the deadline to avoid the risk of losing him in restricted free agency. Detroit could match any offer another team made but if some team wanted to swoop in and scare them off, they potentially could.
You can’t lose a top five pick for nothing, so the Ivey situation is going to be tricky for Trajan Langdon to navigate. This is the most difficult of the big questions to answer, and one that is firmly in “wait and see” mode.