The good news for the Detroit Pistons is that there will be impact players available at the trade deadline, but the bad news is that it will be a seller’s market with plenty of teams looking to buy.
Bleacher Report recently put together a list of likely buyers and sellers at this year’s trade deadline, and only nine NBA teams qualified as sellers. With more parity than ever, most teams around the league fancy themselves playoff contenders, especially if they can land the right addition.
That includes the Pistons, who may not swing for the fences at the deadline, but could still add an impact player like they did last season with Dennis Schroder. Of the nine teams listed as sellers, six of them have players the Pistons might be interested in pursuing.
Boston Celtics
-Derrick White
-Payton Pritchard
-Sam Hauser
The Celtics are currently 4-5, so could use the Jayson Tatum gap year to chase the play-in, and they could feasibly make it in the Eastern conference, which is fairly balanced.
But they could also bottom out at some point, chase another high-end player in the draft to pair with Tatum and Jaylen Brown instead. If so, they have three players in Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser who will draw attention around the league.
Any of these players would help the Pistons in terms of shot creation and 3-point shooting, and Pritchard and Hauser are both on team-friendly deals that would be easy to absorb.
White would obviously be the most expensive to acquire, but I’d keep an eye on the other two as possibilities for Detroit.
Brooklyn Nets
-Michael Porter Jr.
I’ve written about MPJ as a more modest upgrade than some of the others we’ve talked about. He’s big and he can shoot the 3-ball. He’s not the leader Tobias Harris is (not even close), but he’s a far superior 3-point shooter and has championship experience.
Charlotte Hornets
-Collin Sexton
Sexton would be a nice scoring option coming off the bench even if Jaden Ivey does come back to full strength. He’s on an expiring deal and could probably be had for a fairly cheap cost given that he’s a rental.
Sexton is currently shooting over 44 percent from 3-point range, highest of his career.
Indiana Pacers
-Pascal Siakam
If the Pistons wanted to take a big swing to make a run at a title, Pascal Siakam is an option, as the Pacers may not see a future when they can contend with him given that he’s 32 years old already and they have a ton of injuries.
Siakam has proven himself to be a big game performer and was a big part of the Pacers’ run to the Finals last season.
New Orleans Pelicans
-Trey Murphy III
It’s hard to say what the Pels will do. They have no reason to tank given that they don’t have a draft pick in the first-round next year, but the easiest way to replenish that supply is to trade Trey Murphy III or Zion Williamson.
Even though they don’t have motivation to tank, New Orleans may want to play Derik Queen (who they gave up a lot to acquire) and Jeremiah Fears as a way to kickstart a reboot.
The Pistons don’t want any part of Zion, and I am not sure who will, but at some point, the Pelicans have to move on, and Joe Dumars et al. may just want to wipe the slate clean and try to recoup the picks they foolishly gave away.
Utah Jazz
-Lauri Markkanen
I’ve written enough about this, you can read some of it here.
The Detroit Pistons are out to a strong start, but they still have glaring weaknesses on offense that they may choose to address.
If I had to guess, I’d say they will look for a more moderate addition (Malik Beasley anyone?) rather than swing for the fences, as they don’t want to disrupt the team chemistry and culture they are building too much.
The Pistons are in a good position to add impact talent this year without trading away any of their best assets, as they still have money and a roster spot open.