Which of the Detroit Pistons "Core Four" is the most tradable?
The Detroit Pistons are 5-39 as the NBA trade deadline approaches, so anything and everything should be on the table.
It's laughable to talk about "untouchables" on a team that has won just 22 games in the last season and a half.
Even the term "Core Four" seems silly, as we discovered after Troy Weaver started using it to describe Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Saddiq Bey, and Saben Lee, two of whom are no longer on the team.
Core Four 2.0 currently consists of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson, but there are legitimate questions about whether their talents complement each other, as all of them are below-average 3-point shooters in a league where long-range shooting is paramount.
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Of course, they are all very young, and in the cases of Cade and Ivey, will almost undoubtedly improve from 3-point range. They've both shown signs of it already but have been predictably inconsistent.
In the right deal, any of these guys are tradable, though the Pistons have all but ruled it out according to recent reports.
But let's assume that's just posturing and that Detroit would move one of them if it benefitted the overall roster construction. Which of the Core Four would be the guy to go? This is not an endorsement of trading any of them, but it's worth a discussion.
Detroit Pistons "Core Four" ranked from least to most tradable
#5: Cade Cunningham
Cade has his flaws. He turns the ball over too much. He's not a great defender yet. But we've seen flashes of what he can be, as he averaged 23.6 points, 7.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds over his last 25 games before getting injured while shooting over 47 percent from the field and 36 percent from long range.
And this is with a roster that has little spacing or secondary scoring around him. Get Cade a few more shooters and his mid-range and paint game will be even deadlier. Those are borderline All-Star numbers on a good team.
It would also be difficult to get equal trade value for a former #1 pick who is still on a rookie deal. There are concerns about his injury issues, but Cade is a player you can build around, now the Pistons just need to do it properly.