Grade the trade: Pistons take another salary dump in proposed deal

One of the biggest failures of Troy Weaver’s stint as GM of the Detroit Pistons has been his inability to stockpile draft assets. 

In fact, the Detroit Pistons still owe the New York Knicks a first-round pick, though the protections on it may be enough to keep it from ever conveying the way things are going for Detroit. 

That’s not something Weaver probably thought about when he was making the trade to nab Isaiah Stewart in the first round, as he likely thought the Pistons would be competitive by now and that the pick would have conveyed. 

But that hasn’t happened, so the Pistons are stuck in limbo with their draft assets, as they can’t trade their 2024 pick until draft day and can only add one additional pick, something that has hampered them in possible trades. 

This is despite Weaver taking on salary dumps for players who offered nothing to the Pistons, a strategy he could go back to this summer. 

The Detroit Pistons: Please dump your trash here 

Usually when teams take on salary dumps to help another team clear payroll, they are rewarded with assets that make it worth their while, but not the Pistons. 

They took on DeAndre Jordan’s deal, helping the Nets in exchange for a bunch of second-round picks. Whoopee. 

Last offseason, Weaver worked his magic again, taking on the corpse of Joe Harris and his $20 million in salary, again for two second-round picks. This one was particularly bad, as the Nets were desperate to shed payroll to be able to sign Cameron Johnson, a free agent who the Pistons had also expressed interest in. Weaver did the Nets a big favor, hurt his own team in the process and only got two lousy second-round picks for his troubles. 

With over $60 million in cap space this summer and little to spend it on, the Pistons are once again primed to take on someone else’s salary dump, which is what happens in one proposed trade.