The Detroit Pistons will head into the summer looking for a big splash.
After a busy trade deadline where they swapped out half of their team, the Pistons only have six players under contract for next season, a ton of cap space, a few assets and a GM that is trying to save his job, assuming he still has it once the offseason rolls around.
For Troy Weaver, there is a lot riding on these last 28 games; If the team shows out and looks to be headed in the right direction, he may get another shot at his mythic restoration this summer. Bomb, and we may see a new GM and the start of a new rebuild.
There weren’t any big names moved at the deadline, which means we might see another wild summer with multiple star names changing teams. This will largely depend on what happens in the playoffs, as there are teams that will decide their current experiment isn’t working, as well as teams that will need to trim payroll.
In a recent article for The Ringer, Howard Beck speculated about which stars could become available this summer based on the present and future context of their respective teams.
He said repeatedly that he doesn’t think all of these players will change teams, and there is a good possibility that none of them do, so remember, this is just speculation. Here are 12 of the names he mentioned and the chances that the Detroit Pistons might land one of them.
Stars who could be available this summer for the Detroit Pistons
LeBron James: Zero percent chance
Is there a number lower than zero? LeBron coming to Detroit is about as likely as me playing for the Pistons next season. Even if the Pistons were to draft Bronny James, it’s doubtful LeBron would want to spend his last few seasons on the worst team in the league.
LeBron can opt out of his final year and be a free agent, but the Lakers would likely orchestrate a sign-and-trade before letting that happen. I also think they would draft Bronny to keep the elder James happy.
Although if LeBron really wanted to solidify his GOAT status, helping to rebuild the Pistons to their former glory would probably do it, as even Jordan couldn’t do that with the Wizards.
But the best chance of LeBron ending up on the Pistons is if he eventually buys the team from Tom Gores, which would be great.