The NBA trade deadline will be here before we know it and still no one has any clue what the Detroit Pistons are going to do.
With they try to make a splash? Will they sell off a few parts for assets? Will they make moves around the fringe of the rotation? Will they do nothing at all?
All of these options are in play.
Recently, James Edwards III of The Athletic (Subscription) reported what he's heard around the Detroit Pistons, some of which sounded like good calls and some of which sounded like bad.
Before we get into what was said, a quick shoutout to James and the rest of the Pistons' beat writers. Despite what some lunatics on social media think, they have done a fantastic job navigating the daily grind of a terrible team, have asked tough questions, made criticisms and been fair, which is what you want. Cheers!
The Detroit Pistons aren't trading any of the Core Four: Good call
The term "core four" has become a bit of an inside joke since Troy Weaver once compared his original "core four" (Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Saddiq Bey and Saben Lee) to the Yankees dynasty of the 90's-2000's.
Core four 2.0 consists of four completely different players, Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren. This big difference is that these are much more talented players, ones the Pistons actually can build around.
A 5-39 team doesn't have many untouchables, but it's hard to envision a trade where the Pistons move one of them and get back equal value. If the right deal came along, sure, but for now Detroit should proceed as if these four are part of the future.