For the last two seasons, the biggest question hanging over the Detroit Pistons, other than "will they ever win another game?" has been whether the team would trade veteran sharpshooter Bojan Bogdanovic.
Most thought the Pistons would trade him last season, as they were tanking anyway and he had value that wasn't ever likely to be higher considering he was having a career year.
The Pistons stood their ground, didn't get a trade package they liked and decided to keep Bogdanovic, who they thought would help them win games and be competitive this season. I agreed with the decision at the time, but that was before I knew Troy Weaver was going to completely crap the bed last offseason and essentially throw $30 million into Lake Michigan. Had the Pistons made other complemenatary moves, keeping Bogdanovic made some sense.
This topic was brought up again recently after James Edwards III of The Athletic (SUBSCRIPTION) reported that the Pistons had no immediate plans to trade Bogdanovic.
"I’ve heard and continue to hear is that there are no plans to trade Bogdanović unless Detroit gets an offer it can’t refuse. The Pistons want to be good and don’t want to trade good players, even if Bogdanović’s role is reduced to a bench scorer next season."
There are two big factors when it comes to trading Bojan Bogdanovic.
Bojan Bogdanovic, the losing streak and Cade Cunningham
The Pistons are 0-12 since Bogdanovic returned, so it's hard to argue that he is helping them win games. This isn't just on him, of course, but his shooting efficiency has dipped and he has lost another step on defense.
Bogey should probably be a lightning-in-a-bottle bench scorer at this point in his career, as his defense makes him a tough play in certain matchups.
Even though he hasn't helped the Detroit Pistons to a win yet, Bogdanovic has helped Cade Cunningham, who has been much better since he returned, especially lately.
In the 12 games with Bogdanovic, Cade has averaged 24.8 points, 7.2 assists and 5.0 rebounds while shooting over 50 percent from the floor and reducing his turnovers to 3.2 per game.
In the last six, Cade has been spectacular, averaging 31.7 points, 7.2 assists and 5.0 rebounds on 55 percent from the field and 46 percent from long range.
There is no doubt that Cunningham has benefitted from the space Bogdanovic creates even if the team hasn't gotten a win.
So does that mean they should keep him? There is an argument for and against trading Bojan Bogdanovic this season.