As the LeBron James saga drags on, the Detroit Pistons now have a blueprint of what to avoid as the Cade Cunningham era continues to unfold. They should not want to be a team anxiously awaiting the decision of a big-name free agent. Instead, they need to be proactive. They need to go out and trade for more help for Cunningham.
If the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat, or Philadelphia 76ers truly saw themselves as title contenders, they wouldn’t necessarily be praying that James joined their team. The Heat and 76ers have already made massive trades this summer, and the Cavs have been riding the middle-of-the-pack wave for years.
The reality of today’s NBA is that drafting talent and making high-impact trades remain the best ways to win a championship. That’s the path Detroit must follow. Not whatever is happening with James this summer.
Pistons shouldn't want to depend on a LeBron James-like free-agency saga
The James drama has gone on far too long. It’s a mess at this point. A bunch of teams have just been left waiting to see if he’ll join them, praying he’ll increase their title odds.
Even the Minnesota Timberwolves and Golden State Warriors are in similar positions. Like the Sixers and Heat, the Wolves have already made their big move this summer, so James would be an addition.
But the Warriors, like the Cavs, are counting on James to be their big addition. They haven’t really done anything else to help put Stephen Curry in a better position to win next year.
That’s not a position the Pistons should ever want to be in. Rather than depending on a long-winded, drama-filled summer of free agency to improve their team, they need to go out and trade for help for Cunningha.
Detroit already has some solid depth. Bringing Jalen Duren back will be crucial. Ausar Thompson is an elite defender and still improving. The Pistons signed John Collins and still have decent young players.
But if the Pistons want to help Cunningham compete for a championship, they need to go out and trade for a secondary star. And they can’t afford to wait for one of these James-like free-agency sagas.
They need to make a trade. A big-swing deal. The type of deal that changes the outlook of the entire Cunningham era in Detroit.
The Pistons should look at the current state of all the teams interested in James and want to avoid their situation, because they should want to be better than that.
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