Detroit Pistons To Make A Mid-Season Upgrade At Trade Deadline?

Detroit Pistons To Make A Mid-Season Upgrade At Trade Deadline?

topic um was more of a Brian Winhorse um thing that he he said on his podcast that the Pistons could look to make a a mid-season upgrade. So, I I’ll kind of change the question this way for you guys. What do you kind of think a mid-season upgrade may be? Is it a certain skill type you think the Pistons are looking for that they currently don’t have? or maybe it’s a position you think that they’re a little weak at in terms of the depth chart. I think a lot of it’s going to depend on obviously how they do throughout the season, but I think, you know, like at the very least, we know that they have a trade exception to their um to their disposal. We know that they, you know, that there’s real opportunities, you know, for them to maneuver the roster. I think just based off of the types of players that that Tanjan’s added, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s yet another wing and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s another like 3 and D specialist. To me, like when I look at player like players that I’m just interested to see what happens like like a personal like I know he’s a guy that’s been popular in like the Pistons Twitter sphere as well, but PJ Washington with Dallas, you know, going like Cooper Flag being drafted there. But I know, you know, they love him in Dallas, but like there’s the real question of how they fit alongside each other. And you know, like depending on how that goes in Dallas this season that they could potentially look to, uh, alter how that roster is shaped. And so, um, that wouldn’t particularly surprise me if like that came up as, you know, like a potential option. I think someone in that like type of vein is, I think, who they’re going to look for. like just like a dependable, you know, like veteran who can give you quality spacing and, you know, like like quality play on both levels. Someone that, you know, like can start if you need them to, but also you can bring off the bench and, you know, like there’s maneuverability with it. I don’t think they’re necessarily, you know, like they could go out and get a big name for all we know this year. I just based off of what what we know about Tjan and just the way he likes to play things like I don’t think he’s not rushing anything. So I think like he’s just looking to like you know like bolster depth and just continue to take incremental steps like that that that’s just that wouldn’t surprise me. Yeah, PJ Washington was a name that I had um on one of my targets as well. Um I think it’s very I think Traan is very intentional. Um like we even when Ivy went down obviously he made it very clear that they were trying to add um a point guard even before um the season started they were talking to Taius Jones and looking at other backup point guards that they could bring into the fold to help out with their depth. Um and I still think that’s what the plan is for them. Again I don’t I agree with Sean. I don’t think they’re going to rush anything or crash out for you know the first big name that they see or you know anything like that. I feel like he wants to be very intentional and patient with the development of this team and I feel like they do have the affordability to do that. Um I mean I feel like there’s a lot of teams that could have some guys um potentially on the move. I mean I feel like teams like New Orleans um a lot of the bottom feeders on both conferences sides. I feel like they’re going to have pieces that they could have available um as soon as the trade deadline. And like like Winnie said, I do expect the Pistons to be active. I feel like they understand how important, like TJ talked about it after the season. He says he understands how important and how big it was that they did make the playoffs, you know, ahead of schedule to the public. They believe they could do it, which is awesome. Um, so to kind of know that they were able to get to that point and they don’t really want to take a step back, I think he understands that and I think he knows that making that perfect pick is going to be very, very vital in terms of how they progress again, not just for this upcoming season. He said he wants to build this thing up for the next 5 to 10 years. So I, you know, expect him to be very intentional. Um, I think he’s looking at certain positions that make the most sense. you know, stretch fours, wings, you know, he puts a lot of value in that in off seasonasons all the time with his drafting free agency. Um, so I expect him to kind of have that same mindset in terms of the trade deadline because it’s going to be a big period when it comes up for the Pistons. Let me ask you guys this. Let’s say Pistons are top four in the East like right before the deadline. Mhm. You think they push all their chips in to try to, you know, challenge the New York’s, the Cleveland’s, the Orlando, let’s saying that’s how the East goes. You think they try to push their chips in if they’re a top four team versus maybe, let’s say they’re like an eight seed and, you know, they have injuries. Do you think they still go all in or do you think they would kind of just tread carefully um and still try to evaluate the team for the remainder of the season? I’m going to guess he would still take the baby steps and just lean on the young guys. I feel like knowing that they were able to, you know, stay toe-to-toe with the Knicks last season in the playoffs, like if they got waxed in five games, like I don’t think people would be surprised. They be like, “All right, you know, they’re battle tested. They have stars. Brunson’s ancient player. It is what it is.” And I don’t think people would be too upset. I think fans would just be happy that they were able to get into the playoffs. But the fact that they were able to take that step, I mean, you could argue even that would be a reason to um make that cash in. But again, the fact that the young players were able to do so much in keeping them competitive, it’s not like Tobias was averaging 25 or um Beasley was carrying the water to score. Every young player stepped up. There’s no one player in the young core that the Pistons are waiting for them to develop and okay, let let’s catch on. Come on, Ivy. Or come on, Assar. the fact that everybody took a step forward, I think gives him the credence and the reason to want to take their time. And I feel like that’s the way he’s looking at it personally. Yeah. And I I I also just, you know, just looking at um Ke Keith Smith, who’s a really good, you know, like cap, you know, like he’s like the really the cap goat of of like basketball Twitter, but also just a really good reporter. And uh the summer league intel dump that he did a couple weeks ago is just absolute gold and like just a lot of good stuff in there. Uh like one of the things was how just about every single team brought up the second apron and like their fears. One one sec one uh GM in the Eastern Conference said, “We’re never going to be in the Second Apron. That is just something we are never going to do.” Um, but like with with uh like when it comes to the Pistons, a quote that I just found really interesting in, you know, in there like pertaining to this conversation, it was actually, you know, a part of his intel like on extension talks with Ivy and Duran. But like in the quote it says, “We’re not the Capace Pistons anymore. We’re the playoff Pistons now. If if we want to keep being the playoff Pistons, we need to be really smart from here on out. That means finding the right deal for us and for our players.” And so like that’s why like I I think this is just a more this is like the most capcons conscious front office that we’ve ever had and that’s before all of the strict cap rules that are in the league right now. I want to say that that reads like an Art Tellum quote like straight up in my head. Like if I if you would have told me like, okay, who said this? That sounds like an Aron Telm quote if I’ve ever heard one before. But I’m glad you brought that up because like in that same article they both they said we feel pretty confident that we can get extensions done with not only Jaylen Durham but also Jaden Ivy that we can get a deal done which I I think kind of just points to what the Pistons are trying to do long term of keeping the core together kind of having that Oklahoma City Thunder approach of drafting well and you know keeping the core intact. But this is a really good question because I I don’t really know what direction they’re going to go in. I’m with you. I I’ve kind of looked at PJ Washington being on an expiring contract uh fits right into that exception if they wanted to do it that way. But I think if you kind of look at the contracts that they gave out, there’s a lot of stackable contracts like Yep. you know, Tobias isn’t expiring. Um, you know, Carris Levert can get you to that 40, you know, 50 million point like you could possibly be a player for maybe a Lori marketing. Maybe you feel like you’re a Lori Markin in a way of, you know, kind of upgrading the roster. you kind of look at the contracts that they have like they can actually go like big fish hunting and you know go after guys that are making 40 $50 million contracts if they feel that’s what the Pistons um are kind of missing on their roster. I know a big move is coming. I just don’t think it’s going to be as big as like the last big move they made. I don’t think it’s going to be a Blake Griffinesque, but I think it will be a a marginable move that does help them not only win a playoff series, but possibly get them to the Eastern Conference Finals. Like that. That’s how like positively I think about this front office and the way they’ve positioned themselves and all the contracts they’ve given out, you guys are very short-term money. They’re not committing long-term to anybody outside of really Cade and Isaiah Stewart on this roster. So, um, I think they’re setting themselves up to really make that next big move. Yep. They’re there’s that they’re setting themselves up to be able to have to to maneuver with their roster while being able to sign their players to extensions that they have. And like because again it’s important to keep in mind like this is before the you know the Assar Thompson uh contract you know like extension talks where I think like Duran and and and Ivy like I think it’s like it’s going to be interesting to see you know and there’s like a lot of debate on what those numbers could look like. If I’m being honest if Assar comes out and plays the way that we think he can there’s not going to be a lot of debate. It’s just going to be give them as much money as you’re allowed to and then put pen to paper and let it dry. I just want to I’m I’m hoping whatever the move makes or whenever the move is made and whenever it’s made hopefully it’s in response to the necessity of just needing to fill a hole instead of replacing an injury because the most important thing for them to do while yes they do need they could add a few more pieces and you know making one of those splashes but the most important thing that they need is that core has to play at least 60 plus games together that that has to happen this season. They don’t like I don’t want to see any of those guys go down where they’re, you know, watching the street close in the playoffs like Ivy and Stewart had to do. Like they need them all to be healthy because they all fill different roles which is why they’re so important. It’s not like you’re seeing, you know, a core of guys where they’re meshing or not they’re not meshing and they can’t really, you know, find a vibe. Like Kade is obviously the focal point guy. Ivy has his lane. Assar has his lane. Dur has his lane. like they all have their own specific, you know, ways of contributing to this team, which is why it’s going to be so important for them to stay healthy and play together and grow together. So hopefully they can make that decision and that move with a healthy roster intact next to them. [Music] Ooh. Uh-huh. [Music]

This week on Pistons Talk Podcast, Anthony was joined by Eric Vincent and Sean Murphy to discuss the mid-season trade the Detroit Pistons could possibly make.

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