The Detroit Pistons can finally focus on the task at hand. After spending all offseason embroiled in a standoff with Jalen Duren, the Pistons now have their team back together. They believe that they have a better group around the Cade Cunningham-Jalen Duren-Ausar Thompson trio, but whether that will be enough to get them over the hump in a stronger Eastern Conference remains to be seen.
Plenty of Pistons fans were disappointed in the front office for not making a splashier move. Fortunately, even after investing significant resources in Duren, the Pistons are in a good spot to make an in-season trade. Let's take a look at Detroit's assets and flexibility to assess their chances of an upgrade at the trade deadline.
How can the Pistons add to their roster during the season?
Instead of a usual contract structure of pay raises every season, the Pistons signed Duren to a unique deal, where he will make $40.2 million in the first season. His salary will then drop in Year 2 when Ausar Thompson's extension kicks in. Then, it will start to rise slowly until he is making $42.9 million in the 2030-31 season.
This means that the Pistons are now $5.9 million under the luxury tax. Even if we assume that the Pistons will not be willing to pay the luxury tax, this gives them some flexibility in potential trades.
More importantly, the Pistons have plenty of draft capital that they can trade. After keeping their powder dry this offseason, Detroit has control of all of its first-round picks over the next seven seasons. They also have 11 second-round picks in the next seven drafts.
This means that Detroit can trade up to four unprotected first-round picks. Add up to three first-round pick swaps and several second-round picks, and the Pistons can realistically acquire any player on the trade block.
The problem here will be matching salary. Assuming the Pistons don't want to trade Duren or Thompson, it may be difficult to trade enough salary to take back a star-level player.
This doesn't mean that the Pistons can't trade for a true difference-maker. By using a combination of salaries between John Collins ($17 million), Duncan Robinson ($15.9 million), Isaiah Joe ($11.3 million), Kevin Huerter ($9.5 million), and Ron Holland ($9 million), the Pistons could still pursue a high-salaried player, like Trey Murphy ($27 million) or Kyrie Irving ($39.5 million).
The Pistons have intriguing young players like Ebuka Okorie and Daniss Jenkins, whom they can include in a trade to sweeten the deal.
There will be stars on the trade block at the deadline. The Pistons will have the ability to beat any offers on the trade market. But first, they have to see how they start the season.
The factor that will define whether the Pistons should and will make a move will be the half-court offense. If Detroit is improved offensively thanks to the shooting upgrades like Isaiah Joe and John Collins, then it may be another quiet transaction period. Otherwise, expect the Pistons to finally make a big splash before February 11's trade deadline.
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