At 3-36, the Detroit Pistons can already consider the 2023-24 NBA season a lost cause as they have no shot of making the playoffs.
Detroit’s got talented young players in Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey, and Ausar Thompson but the team clearly needs an infusion of talent if it wants to get anywhere.
With the NBA trade deadline approaching, the Pistons should be sellers as they’ve got a couple of veterans who could net them back some draft capital.
The team could also look to clear more cap space to absorb more bad deals for assets or chase quality players in free agency.
The Pistons appear to be gearing up for some moves as they opened up more cap space by trading away Marvin Bagley III, Isaiah Livers, and a couple of second-round picks via Bobby Marks of ESPN.
“The Detroit Pistons are now projected to have $64M in cap room this offseason,” Marks said.
The Detroit Pistons are now projected to have $64M in cap room this offseason 👀🔥
(h/t @BobbyMarks42 ) pic.twitter.com/xp2OY8HgPp
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 14, 2024
Bagley was due to make $12.5 million next season and by taking on Danilo Galinari and Mike Muscala’s expiring deals they’ll have more money to play around with in the summer.
With the combination of another high lottery pick plus cap space, the Pistons can accelerate their rebuild and get back to playing more competitive basketball potentially as soon as next season.
For now, though, fans will have to deal with their futility and hope the front office makes good decisions.
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