The Detroit Pistons are coming off of a trade deadline season that saw the team finally deal Bojan Bogdanovic, the solid wing player and scorer who GM Troy Weaver had been trying to deal for quite some time.
The Pistons sent ‘Bogey' to the New York Knicks and got back a few role players in the deal as their re-tooling continued.
By releasing Killian Hayes, the Pistons made more room for Jaden Ivey to begin blossoming, hopefully, into a star role as he seems to be doing right now. The Pistons also made a final decision on Danilo Gallinari after acquiring him in a previous trade.
When the dust settled, the Pistons had made a fantastic series of movies that sets them up for future success and removed a logjam at various positions. Detroit wanted to get younger, faster and more future-oriented and they have done just that by dealing Bogdanovic.
Releasing Hayes freed up a logjam in the backcourt and will allow Jaden Ivey to thrive going forward while freeing up playing time for Marcus Sasser, a 2023 first round pick who has shown promise and needs plenty of minutes to find his rhythm and place in the rotation, and the NBA as a whole.
Pistons Could Have Gotten More for Bogdanovic
Based on the hype and scuttlebutt surrounding the Pistons' trade talks for ‘Bogey,' it seems they could have gotten more for the high-scoring forward.
The Pistons were said to be asking for a first round pick plus players in any deal for Bogdanovic but didn't come close to reaping such a windfall in their recent deal.
Detroit received Evan Fournier, Quentin Grimes, Malachi Flynn and Ryan Arcidiacono in exchange for Bogdanovic and Alec Burks.
Grimes is a 2021 first round pick, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard who is a high volume three-point shooter. His average dipped to just over 36 percent this season from his usual average of 38 percent.
With the Pistons he should get plenty of opportunities to launch from deep.
Grimes' strength is that he can shoot the three-ball from just about anywhere past halfcourt and he typically does it with quickness and suddenness as opposed to Burks who is more of a traditional spot-up shooter.
The Pistons also dealt Kevin Knox who is a similar player to Burks in myriad ways. Knox has already been waived by the Jazz.
The flurry of moves mostly centered around unloading Bogdanovic to get younger and more athletic and to free up playing time for Weaver and the Pistons' youngsters.
Altogether, it was a winning trade deadline for Detroit, but after months of rumblings about Bogdanovic's supposedly sky-high trade value it's hard not to feel a little disappointed.
Pistons' 2024 Rest-of-Season Outlook
The Pistons looked like a more balanced team during a close loss to the Clippers following the trade on Saturday, February 10.
Ivey, rookie Ausar Thompson, Cade Cunningham and new addition Simone Fontecchio all got playing time together and had solid performances.
The Pistons seem to flow better with a younger team at Coach Monty Williams' disposal and that could pay dividends down the road.
For now, expect plenty of growing pains for a Pistons team that has furiously juggling pieces in an attempt to find the right mix of players moving forward in anticipation for contending next year or at the very least in 2025-2026.
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