The Detroit Pistons traded Jerami Grant to the Portland Trail Blazers for a measly future first-round pick in order to shed salary cap and create room for their planned free agency signings. Now, according to a report, the move for Deandre Ayton is looking more likely now.

As Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report mentioned, the Pistons are projected to have a cap space worth upwards of $50 million. That means that they can offer Ayton the big payday he's seeking–reported to be around $30-$32 million per year–and still chase for other free agents to build their roster.

However, there's one problem for the Pistons: the Suns are firm on doing a sign-and-trade to get something in return for Ayton and, unfortunately, they don't have the pieces to do that.

“A sign-and-trade with Jerami Grant had long been mentioned by league personnel as a potential mechanism to get Ayton to the Pistons,” Fischer wrote.

“But even before Grant was moved to Portland, Suns officials had started messaging to rival teams and other external league personnel that Phoenix won’t necessarily balk at matching any offer sheet for Ayton, sources told B/R. With no obvious sign-and-trade piece to send back to the Suns, it’s unclear whether Detroit will have an unencumbered pursuit of Ayton on the restricted free-agent market.”

For what it's worth, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN reported earlier that the Suns are “very motivated” in finding a sign-and-trade deal for Deandre Ayton, which is further bad news for the Pistons and their hopes of landing the big man.

For now, however, fans can do nothing but wait and see how the trade season and free agency will pan out amid all the rumored wheeling-and-dealing.