The Detroit Pistons have been one of the surprise teams of the NBA and will be active at the NBA trade deadline one way or another.
They control the deadline according to some insiders, largely because they are the only team with cap space, have a couple of veterans on expiring deals and young players that other teams might covet.
Trajan Langdon has made it clear that his intention is to look for ways to use his cap space to grab extra draft assets, which the Pistons need, as they still owe a first-round pick to the Timberwolves.
The most common thinking is that the Pistons will wait for one of the rumored superstars to be traded and use their cap space as a third team to absorb a contract in exchange for draft capital.
One of the names most commonly mentioned is Jimmy Butler, but recent rumors and direct words from Pat Riley may send the Pistons in a different direction.
Jimmy Butler rumors and how they affect the Pistons
Insider Marc Stein (subscription) recently reported that there was no real movement on the Butler market, largely because the Heat think they could get more by waiting for a sign-and-trade next offseason.
Pat Riley was far more explicit, saying that the Heat are not trading Butler.
Riley is not going to say anything to jeopardize his leverage, so you can take anything he says with a grain of salt, but as of right now it doesn’t look like Butler is going anywhere.
The Suns are the team most rumored to be after him but they have no realistic way to get there with a trade package. The Warriors are also somewhat limited after trading for Dennis Schroder, so the market for Butler may not exist.
What happens if a superstar isn’t traded?
Even if Butler isn’t the one, there will likely be a big name moved at the deadline that will give the Pistons a chance to cash in on their cap space.
But what if that doesn’t happen? The tax aprons have made this all a lot more difficult and we may not see a superstar moved at the deadline, in which case the Pistons would be sitting around with $14 million in cap space.
In that scenario, would they just keep it or try to make a roster addition of their own? Even if they didn’t add a superstar, Detroit could use their cap space and Tim Hardaway Jr’s expiring contract to add a player who could help them without any long-term financial obligations.
The Pistons’ trade deadline will be dictated by what other teams do, but if there is not a chance for them to use their cap space to get picks, Detroit may decide to add talent to make a real run at the playoffs.
It should be an interesting trade deadline in Detroit one way or another.