Since the news that free-agent Dennis Schroder was signing a three-year deal with the Sacramento Kings first broke, there has been speculation that the Detroit Pistons may use Schroder’s Bird rights to orchestrate a sign-and-trade.
The most recent rumors had the Kings sending the Pistons Malik Monk, who along with Caris LeVert and Duncan Robinson, could potentially replace the offense lost in free agency when Schroder, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Malik Beasley went elsewhere.
But those rumors may have been drummed up by Sacramento, who is reportedly keen to trade Monk and may have more interest in the idea than the Pistons. This is via HoopsRumors:
“According to Thanawalla and Rodriguez of NBC Sports Bay Area, the Kings are considered more likely than not to part ways with Monk this offseason and haven’t closed the door on sending him to Detroit in the Schröder sign-and-trade. However, reports of Monk’s potential inclusion seem to be coming entirely from Sacramento-based outlets rather than the Detroit side, so it sounds like the Kings have more interest in including Monk in that deal than the Pistons do.”
This is an interesting turn, as reports generally presented the Pistons as the team trying to facilitate this deal, which doesn’t seem to be the case.
Monk would be nice to have, and would give the Pistons a dynamic bench, but he also comes with three years on his deal and Trajan Langdon has been reluctant to go that far in years for veteran role players.
Even if the Pistons don’t land Monk, they have ways to use this trade to add talent.
Detroit Pistons sign-and-trade: Other options
The Pistons may not have interest in Monk or any other player on the Kings for that matter. I’ve seen fans speculating about the idea of Keegan Murray, who would be a much better fit for what the Pistons need, but he’d give them another player who will be looking for a big raise after next season to go along with Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey.
It’s more likely the Pistons use the sign-and-trade to create a player exception that they can use to sign another player as it outlined here by Omari Sankofa II:
Source: The Dennis Schröder signing will be a sign-and-trade between the Pistons and Kings. That will allow the Pistons to take back up to $22.6 million, or will generate a player exception worth $14.3 million if they don’t take a player back. Either way, they gain flexibility.
— Omari Sankofa II (@omarisankofa) July 3, 2025
The Pistons could try to get another team involved and find a player to fold into this trade or take the player exception and have upwards of $14 million to spend on another player, potentially a power forward, though the market is limited.
This saga will likely extend until July 6th, but stay tuned, as the Pistons may yet leave this Dennis Schroder deal with another player or the means to get one.