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The Detroit Pistons are going into a pivotal offseason. After getting top-five picks the past two seasons, the team needs to show some type of improvement. They don’t necessarily need to be competing for a championship but need to be in the mix for the play-in tournament. As the Detroit Pistons look to retool this roster, who is untouchable, and who could be a valuable trade piece to improve?
Detroit Pistons: Two Players Are Untouchable
I have two Detroit Pistons that are untouchable. The first one should be obvious. Cade Cunningham is the focal point of this rebuild. Even though a shin injury limited him to just 12 games last season, he still is the future of this team. The former number-one overall pick is a player the team can build around. The other untouchable player is Jaden Ivey, the fifth overall pick in this year’s draft. With the absence of Cunningham, Ivey got more of a chance to develop. Over the last nine games of the season, Ivey averaged 22.9 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 7.7 assists. He looks like a building block of the future.
Detroit Pistons: The Near Untouchables
There are a couple of players on the list that are close to untouchable but not quite. The Pistons aren’t listening to Cade Cunningham deals unless the team is offering something insane. These players are ones that the Pistons may not necessarily want to move but doing so could net them premium players and picks. The first is James Wiseman. After acquiring the former number two overall pick from the Golden State Warriors, he played well for the Pistons. I doubt that the team will be looking to immediately flip him after just a third of a season but he is a tantalizing piece that someone could desire.
The second near untouchable for me is Jalen Duran. I love Duran on the Pistons but the team is going to have to make a decision at some point down the road. Both Duran and Wiseman are non-shooting big men. Teams have tried the two bigs on the floor strategy and it hasn’t worked. At some point, the team will have to choose to move one of them and it could be this offseason. Let me give you an example of a possible deal.
A Hypothetical Scenario
The Dallas Mavericks need some size. The Christian Wood experiment failed and owner Mark Cuban and the rest of the front office are desperate to make a big splash in order to convince Luka Doncic to stay in Dallas long-term. Could the team flip Duran to Dallas for a player and a first-round pick? They would then stick with Wiseman and get another first-round pick to play with in the future. I’m not saying they should do this but it might be what is best for the team.
Everyone Else Is On The Table
I like Isaiah Stewart and Killian Hayes. I love the veteran leadership that Bojan Bogdanovic brings to the team. However, all of these players should be moved for the right offer. Too often, teams fall in love with their own players and do not see the bigger picture. If the team can start stockpiling picks in the next couple of years, they will be in a position to make a big trade for a final piece.
This is a critical offseason for the Pistons. Regardless of where they end up in the draft lottery, they will add another young quality piece to the roster. The goal now is to start building around them and hopefully begin to cultivate a winning basketball team.
