The Detroit Pistons are heading into the offseason with a bag of cash and plenty of weaknesses to address. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Cap space isn’t what it used to be now that it is easier for teams to retain stars, so the Pistons may once again be left with money but no one to spend it on in free agency.
That leads us to trades, where Detroit might have better luck landing the impact talent they need.
But at what cost?
How much is too much for the Detroit Pistons?
If Detroit wants to get a good player in a trade, they are going to have to give up something of value in return, a transactional certainty that some fans seem unwilling to accept.
With limited draft assets at their disposal, it is going to come down to which young players they are willing to give up to get a proven player or two.
That means weighing the present against the future, of looking at the odds of making a meaningful trade vs the odds that one or more of the young players will eventually blossom into a star.
It’s a tough line to walk for a team that can’t afford mistakes, not when they aren’t attracting free agents and are in a conference that is trending young and getting better.
The following proposed trade is a good example of the type of decision Detroit will have to make, as it does land them an impact player, but is the cost too much? I don’t envy Trajan Langdon, as these are the types of tough calls he is going to have to make.
Detroit Pistons trade Isaiah Stewart, Quentin Grimes and the 5th pick to the Washington Wizards for Kyle Kuzma
Bleacher Report recently suggested this trade, which brings Kyle Kuzma (Flint native) home in exchange for Isaiah Stewart, Quentin Grimes and the 5th pick.
Initially, this deal doesn’t look so bad for Detroit, as they aren’t giving up Jaden Ivey, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson or Cade Cunningham, but two role players and the 5th pick in a weak draft.
In most drafts, you’d hope the player you drafted at five at least had a chance to be as good or better than Kuzma, but in this one, it’s harder to make that claim.
Grimes is on an expiring contract next season and barely played, so it’s hard to say the Pistons are giving up much there.
Stewart has improved every season he’s been in the league and is on a reasonable (not great) deal that isn’t much less than what Kuzma will make. Kuzma’s contract actually goes down and he’ll be making just $19 million in the final year, $4 million more than Beef Stew.
Stewart has also been sneakily unreliable, as he’s only played 96 games over the past two seasons, while Kuzma has played 134 in that time.
Would this be a steal for the Detroit Pistons or are they giving up too much for a non-All-Star who was just the best player on a team nearly as bad as Detroit?
Are the Detroit Pistons giving up too much in proposed trade with the Wizards?
The answer to this is yes and no.
If you are getting the Stewart and Grimes from this season, then this is a steal for Detroit, as the two only played 97 games combined in 2023-24 and made little impact on winning.
If you are getting a fully healthy Stewart and Grimes who both play a whole season, it starts getting more difficult to judge, as both are versatile defenders, more accurate 3-point shooters than Kuzma and give the Pistons more depth, which they desperately need.
Kuzma is certainly the best player in this deal, but the question is whether he is more valuable than what Stewart, Grimes and the 5th pick will give you.
Without knowing what else the Pistons would do after this, it’s hard to say if this is a good deal or not, as we’d have to know which players they added to fill those roster spots.
Kuzma would give the Pistons another legit option and even though he is not as accurate from 3-point range, he shoots twice as many as Stewart and is undeniably more of an offensive threat.
I don’t think the Pistons can make personnel decisions based on the potential of role players or teenagers in an unknown draft, so even though this one would be tough, they’d have to consider it.
They’d still retain all of their cap space, have a very good player locked into a team-friendly deal and would still have plenty of money to do other things.