With over $60 million in cap space (potentially) to play with this summer, fans of the Detroit Pistons are hoping the team can make a big splash.
They are in a position to take on a big contract in free agency or a trade, but with few impact free agents available, trading for a star may be their most viable route.
That won’t be easy either, as the Pistons have precious few trade assets, so would have to part with some of their young talent to even be in the conversation for any star player.
One team fans will be watching closely is the Phoenix Suns, who were eviscerated on their home floor last night to go down 3-0 in their first-round series with the Timberwolves.
The Suns are expensive, getting old and now look like a team that will never get out of the first round with their big three of Booker, Durant and Beal.
Their first-round flop has some Pistons fans dreaming of possibilities:
Devin Booker, you are a Detroit Piston
— PistonsThoughts (@PistonsThoughts) April 27, 2024
But unfortunately, this one will probably remain a dream.
The Detroit Pistons trading for Devin Booker
Few players would complement Cade Cunningham better than Devin Booker, an All-Star and elite scorer in his prime.
Once the Suns are eliminated, Phoenix may decide to dismantle their expensive roster while the parts still have value which would allow them to rebuild on the fly. But in this scenario, it seems far more likely that Durant would be shipped out given his age and contract, which only goes for two more seasons.
Booker is still just 27 and locked up for four more seasons, so it seems like he’d be the keeper they would try to build around using the largesse from trading Durant and perhaps Bradley Beal (good luck moving his deal).
But even if the Suns do decide to trade Booker, there will be plenty of interested teams (Philly comes to mind immediately) and what exactly are the Pistons going to offer? Even if they threw in Ivey, Duren, Sasser and two first-round picks, would that be the best offer for Booker?
Teams like OKC, Houston or New Orleans (just to name three) could put out better deals than Detroit just because of their stockpiles of draft assets, something the Pistons don’t have.
The Suns’ owner seems willing to spend money and hasn’t cared about the tax, so they may just run it back and add more money and players to the roster.
I’d love to bring Devin Booker home to play with Cade Cunningham in Detroit, but it’s hard to see the Suns moving him and even if they do, the Pistons won’t have the best offer.