It’s hard to imagine a season going worse for the Detroit Pistons than this one has, as they’ve been terrible and will once again finish the season playing meaningless games with replacement players.
Detroit is likely to finish with the worst record in franchise history and is currently building around four players who aren’t clear fits. It’s a mess.
With limited trade assets and few viable top-flight free agents, the Pistons don’t have a lot of ways to improve a roster that will have at least six open spots.
One thing is for certain, they don’t need to get any younger, which is why trading their 2024 draft pick has to be a consideration.
Detroit Pistons draft: Trading the pick makes sense
Aside from the fact that this draft is a complete mystery that no one agrees on, is adding another 18-19-year-old player to this team going to make it better?
Having a roster whose best players are all young has not worked for anyone and it certainly hasn’t for the Pistons, who have failed to win 80 games in the last four seasons combined. At some point, they can’t just keep adding young players and hope some of them are eventually good, as they have created a losing culture waiting for young players to turn into stars or for one to fall into their laps because they have cap space.
Their 2024 draft pick, which will almost certainly be in the top five, is one of their better assets, and coupled with one or two of their young players, may be enough to move the needle in a trade.
Even if they don’t trade the pick outright, using it to trade back and pick up an asset would be the smart move in a draft where you are as likely to find a star outside of the top 10 as in it.
Detroit can’t officially move the pick until draft day, but everything should be on the table when it comes to that pick, whether it is packaged for an impact player or used to trade back to get a veteran role player.
Building through the draft isn’t only about drafting well, it’s about managing assets and knowing when to cash them in for the betterment of the team.
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