The Detroit Pistons have not made the splashy move some fans were hoping for. Instead, they spent the summer making smaller moves that will hopefully address their weaknesses on the offensive side of the ball. Whether they have done enough with the additions of Isaiah Joe, John Collins, and Ebuka Okorie remains to be seen, but it's safe to assume that the Pistons are done with their big moves this offseason.
Sure, they still have to re-sign Jalen Duren, but once that's done, it's difficult to imagine they will have more moves up their sleeve. A big reason why is their lack of trade chips.
Pistons don't have the matching salary for a big trade anymore
Before the offseason, the Pistons had a ton of matching salary and tradeable contracts. They had expendable players like Isaiah Stewart, Caris LeVert, and Marcus Sasser, who they could have put together and acquired a player with a big salary. Instead of doing this, the Pistons traded them away in financially motivated moves to open up more cap space to fill Duren's new contract under the luxury tax line.
Now, the Pistons are bereft of matching salaries in potential trades. Kevin Huerter, John Collins, and Javonte Green can't be traded until December 15. Gary Harris, Taurean Prince, and Isaiah Joe can't be aggregated in a trade as new acquisitions.
The only players the Pistons can realistically move to get a player making more than the minimum back right now are Duncan Robinson, Ron Holland, Paul Reed, and Daniss Jenkins. The Pistons have shown no interest in trading Holland this summer. Reed is essentially untouchable as he is the primary backup behind Duren and is on a very team-friendly deal, making $5.6 million next season.
This leaves Robinson and Jenkins as the only realistic trade candidates. Since the Pistons would target shooting and ball-handling in a potential move, trading either player doesn't make much sense. Detroit isn't going to find a better shooter than Robinson on the market. Trading Jenkins and his $4 million salary to acquire another offensive engine seems implausible.
The Pistons could still make lower-level moves this summer. They could attach a first-round pick to Prince or Harris and try to get an upgrade for their bench.
However, that is unlikely to satisfy the Pistons fans who were hoping for a big swing this offseason. At this point, anything more than a minor trade for a backup seems highly unlikely.
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