The Pistons Made A Trade — What’s Next?

On Tuesday night, the Detroit Pistons acquired Nerlens Noel, Alec Burks, and two second-round picks from the New York Knicks, per Adrian Wojnarowski. In a salary clearing move, the Knicks were able to shed nearly $26 million of salary by dumping Burks, Noel and Kemba Walker’s contracts to the Pistons. While the Knicks have their eyes set on the Mavericks guard Jalen Brunson, the Pistons are likely headed down another path.

The Pistons, who were expected to be one of the biggest spenders in free agency, have voluntarily stepped out of that role. The expectation now is to go all out in the 2023-24 season, and use the upcoming season as another developmental year. While fans may be upset that Miles Bridges or Deandre Ayton will not be in Pistons uniform next year, it is important to understand that their core got younger with the additions of Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren. After 20- and 22-win seasons in their past two years, the Pistons have a lot more work to do before they can convince general manager Troy Weaver that it is time to go all in. 

The reality is that these rebuilds take time. For example, look at teams like the Suns and Warriors. It was not until the 2020-21 season that the Suns even made the playoffs. Devin Booker was a star, but it took some time until he finally saw it translate to serious win totals. The 2022 NBA Champions, the Golden State Warriors, did not truly start competing until the 2012 season, which was Steph Curry’s fourth year. The Pistons are no different, hoping to steadily improve each year until they can finally be contenders in the East.

So this leaves the question, what will the Pistons do in free agency? The Pistons will have around $10 million in cap-space this upcoming free agency after signing Marvin Bagley III to a new three-year deal. One initial need they had was shooting from the guard position. The Pistons had declined sharpshooter Frank Jackson’s team option and desperately needed more floor spacing in the backourt of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Killian Hayes and Cory Joseph. They addressed this need though with Burks, a shooting guard who was 40% from the three-point range over his last three seasons. Another need they had coming into the offseason was athletic bigs who can play above the rim. Weaver has addressed this by drafting Duren, re-signing Bagley and now adding Noel. One thing to watch out for is what the Pistons do with all of the bigs they have. Bagley, Duren, Noel, Kelly Olynyk and Isaiah Stewart makeup a crowded front-court, and it could very well be possible that one of them gets moved during the offseason.

While the Pistons have addressed many of their needs so far in the offseason, one need that will need to be fixed is replacing Jerami Grant. Outside of Saddiq Bey, the Pistons don’t have many forwards that are capable of playing the small forward and power forward position. Look for the team to address this through free agency. One name to look out for is TJ Warren. The versatile wing has missed the last two seasons due to injury, but a one-year, prove-it deal could be what both teams are looking for. Warren has been one of the underrated scorers in the league averaging nearly 20 points in the last three healthy seasons that he played. He also has shot 40% from three during these seasons as well. In Detroit, he would have the chance to get back to that level and provide scoring for a team that had one of the worst offenses in the NBA last season.

Troy Weaver has a plan. It may not be sexy, but it is just what the Pistons need to get back to relevance.