Report: Detroit Pistons could become buyers at NBA trade deadline

Heading into the 2024-25 season, very few people probably thought the Detroit Pistons were ready to compete for a playoff spot. The Pistons were fresh off a season during which they went 14-68 and ended up with the league’s worst record.

Fast forward to 42 games into the Pistons’ new season, and they already have 21 wins under their belt. That’s seven more wins than they had in all of the 2023-24 campaign. What’s more is that Detroit is in the thick of the Eastern Conference postseason race, currently holding a play-in spot.

With Detroit exceeding all preseason expectations and looking like a real playoff contender, NBA insider Jake Fischer has reported that the Pistons are considering being buyers at the trade deadline, which is set for Feb. 6.

“The upstart Pistons, meanwhile, could rise as high as the No. 3 seed in the East or stay closer to the back end of the Play-In hunt depending on how their next 10 or so games go,” Fischer wrote prior to Detroit’s loss on Saturday. “Detroit has won nine of 12 games since starting the season at a pretty passable 12-17 in the wake of last season’s 14-68 misery. It’s sort of the inverse of Philadelphia’s predicament, where Detroit decision-makers certainly weren’t expecting Cade Cunningham and Co. to be this competitive this soon.

“How well the Pistons continue to play could potentially change the course that Trajan Langdon’s new front office originally planned with its $14 million in available cap space before the deadline. It was once considered a certainty that Detroit would look to absorb other teams’ contracts for draft capital, either in salary dumps or to help facilitate multi-team trades, since no other team has that much in-season cap space to use. Now the Pistons are considering the concept of becoming trade deadline buyers, according to league sources.

“Yet these appear to be more preliminary and evaluative conversations — how any methodical and pragmatic front office would look at all the avenues that the market presents. The Pistons have also left rival teams with the impression they aren’t weighing any truly massive moves, such as a swing for New Orleans’ Brandon Ingram, who would need some of Cunningham’s touches.”

The Pistons have given their fans a whole lot to cheer about this season, but the team still isn’t without its flaws. For example, the squad could use some additional playmaking.

Cunningham is leading the Pistons with 9.4 assists per game this season, and fellow guard Jaden Ivey is averaging 4.0, but nobody else on the team is averaging more than 2.5 per game. Those averages don’t take into account the game the Pistons just wrapped up against the Phoenix Suns.

Perhaps because of a shortage of effective playmakers, the team has had trouble taking care of the ball at times. The Pistons entered Saturday’s action averaging more than 15 turnovers per contest.

Suns guard Tyus Jones stands out as someone who could help the Pistons in the passing department. He’s long provided teams with a steady playmaking hand, and he’s done just that with Phoenix this season.

Jones entered Saturday’s action averaging 6.1 assists per game in a starting role with Phoenix while averaging only 1.3 turnovers per contest. It’s unclear, however, if he is a real candidate to be traded.

The Pistons are certainly a team to keep tabs on in the East not only this season but in the years to come. They have a young and talented core of players, and the team is perhaps a piece or two away from making some noise in the conference. Hopefully for people in Detroit, Langdon makes a move prior to the deadline that will help the Pistons now and in the future.