We are less than two weeks from the official start of trade season in the NBA, and the Detroit Pistons could be busy one way or another.
December 15th is when many recently signed free agents are eligible to be traded, so we will likely see some action start to heat up.
The Pistons are teetering on the brink, as their season may come down to the next few weeks, when they have a tough schedule that may send them running towards the 2025 NBA Draft instead of the play-in tournament.
The Pistons lose their pick if they make the playoffs, so there is some logic to questioning whether chasing the 10th seed is really worth it.
If the Pistons decide to play it out with their young guys, we could see veterans like Tim Hardaway Jr., Malik Beasley and Paul Reed traded, but we are not there yet, as Trajan Langdon is likely to let this run its course and see if he can get some real improvement t out of this group that would be valuable moving forward.
The Pistons also have a couple of young players in Marcus Sasser and Wendell Moore Jr., who could end up becoming vital pieces in a trade.
Detroit Pistons rumors: Minimum contracts at the trade deadline
In a recent article for the Stein Line (subscription) by Jake Fischer, he talked about how minimum and lower-end contracts could become vitally important at the trade deadline, as they were in New York’s creative trade for Karl-Anthony Towns.
He said New York set an example that other teams are going to follow when it comes to skirting the apron rules of the new CBS, which could lead to more 3-team trades. Considering the Pistons have two contracts that are well under $3 million in Sasser and Moore Jr., we could see one of them used to facilitate a trade.
Teams in the second apron will also be hunting for guys on lowball deals who can actually provide rotation minutes, and a guy like Sasser certainly fits the bill, which could make him more valuable than his current production would suggest.
Sasser has at least shown he can come in and get buckets efficiently, and given he is only making a few hundred thousand over the minimum, he could become a name that some team like the Suns inquiries about.
We could see Sasser’s contract used to grease a three-team deal or we could see a team pursue him directly looking for cheap help.
Given that he is already locked up at a reduced rate for next season as well, he is a trade piece that could potentially land the Pistons several draft assets or be seen as a sweetener if the Pistons try to bring back talent of their own.
The new CBA rules are forcing teams to look for creative ways to save money, and it will be interesting to see how Trajan Langdon uses the weapons at his disposal, which include cap space, expiring and lower-tier contracts.