2026 NBA Trade Deadline

[buddha]

the pistons are reminding me of the lions a bit.  "we're not going to add talent because we're good with our culture and our people.  next man up!"

it was hubris for the lions.  the pistons seem to be preaching patience and are saving their coin to extend ausar and duren (and i wouldnt be surprised if they pay tobias too).  but sometimes falling in love with your own talent instead of adding outside talent is just as bad as making a gamble trade for short term improvement.

you have the best record in a weak eastern conference, why not add someone who could potentially take you over the top?  you never know what the future is, cade could sprain his ankle or have a calf sprain next year.  look at orlando's season this year.  strike while the iron is hot.

[Deleterious]

So looking at next years cap numbers.  Assuming the salary cap projection of $166 million holds up.  

If Detroit renounces all of their free agents except Duren they will have $15.5 million in cap space.  Which means they will basically have no cap space, since the MLE will be between $15 and $16 million.

So they will have the MLE + the BAE which will be $5.5 million, maybe six.  

[NYLion]

7 hours ago, buddha said:

i keep seeing all these useful backup point guards going into trade exceptions for middling second round picks or nothing prospects and all i can think of is "are we really refusing to upgrade our backup point guard because of daniss jenkins"?  

you can call me a hater all you - because its true - but i'd feel a lot better with a more proven commodity backing up cade against a team that is trying on defense in the playoffs.

You definitely err on the pessimistic side but when you're going into a playoff run with old Tobias Harris as your #2 option that's a huge problem. Hell, even prime Tobias wasn't a #2 option on a contender so there's reason for pessimism. I actually think Jenkins can be a viable backup PG because he knows how to play the position unlike Ivey for instance, it's the starting lineup that's the bigger issue.

There's something about Detroit GMs where they have a fetish for team culture and locker room harmony which they think can lead a team to a championship but you need the horses to withstand the rigors of a playoff run and the Pistons quite simply don't. Tbh, if they play Charlotte for example in the 1st round they could very well lose that game. The Hornets don't play much defense generally but they have at least 3 offensive options better than the Pistons #2 and I'd argue that Bridges is better than Harris. 

Edited yesterday at 03:28 AM by NYLion

[buddha]

sign lonzo.

[Deleterious]

Not the biggest Jenkins fan.  But I'll take him over Ball 10 times out of 10.

Ball shoots 30% from the field and 27% from three. Jenkins shoots 38% from three.  Jenkins has similar assist numbers on less minutes.  Neither is worth mentioning on defense. 

[Deleterious]

9 hours ago, NYLion said:

You definitely err on the pessimistic side but when you're going into a playoff run with old Tobias Harris as your #2 option that's a huge problem. Hell, even prime Tobias wasn't a #2 option on a contender so there's reason for pessimism. I actually think Jenkins can be a viable backup PG because he knows how to play the position unlike Ivey for instance, it's the starting lineup that's the bigger issue.

There's something about Detroit GMs where they have a fetish for team culture and locker room harmony which they think can lead a team to a championship but you need the horses to withstand the rigors of a playoff run and the Pistons quite simply don't. Tbh, if they play Charlotte for example in the 1st round they could very well lose that game. The Hornets don't play much defense generally but they have at least 3 offensive options better than the Pistons #2 and I'd argue that Bridges is better than Harris. 

Charlotte defense ranks 17th in the league this season, which obviously isn't great.  But a lot of that includes the start of the season when they were not playing well.  

In their last 15 games their defense ranks 6th as does their offense.  In that time, they have the #1 net rating, just above the Pistons.  

[buddha]

9 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Not the biggest Jenkins fan.  But I'll take him over Ball 10 times out of 10.

Ball shoots 30% from the field and 27% from three. Jenkins shoots 38% from three.  Jenkins has similar assist numbers on less minutes.  Neither is worth mentioning on defense. 

Lonzo is a bigger guard with experience.  you dont have to cut jenkins.  cut bobi or somebody equally as worthless at the end of the bench.  the pistons arent going 13 deep in the playoffs.

[Deleterious]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

Lonzo is a bigger guard with experience.  you dont have to cut jenkins.  cut bobi or somebody equally as worthless at the end of the bench.  the pistons arent going 13 deep in the playoffs.

I agree that a bigger backup PG would be nice.  Experience doesn't matter much since Ball has never played in a playoff game.  The shooting is the headshot, though.  You can't bring that poor of a shooter onto the roster.  

[Deleterious]

He can go back because he was traded to a second team and then cut.  If Chicago had cut him, he would not be able to go back to Minnesota.  

 

[Betrayer]

18 hours ago, Deleterious said:

So looking at next years cap numbers.  Assuming the salary cap projection of $166 million holds up.  

If Detroit renounces all of their free agents except Duren they will have $15.5 million in cap space.  Which means they will basically have no cap space, since the MLE will be between $15 and $16 million.

So they will have the MLE + the BAE which will be $5.5 million, maybe six.  

The cap makes no sense to me.

Spotrac shows the Pistons as having a maximum possible cap space of 49.7M.  I'm assuming that's partly because Duncan is only guaranteed 2M and Reed and Bobi are non-guaranteed, but that's not enough to make up the difference. Does Duren's 19.5M hold make up the rest? Make it make sense.

[Deleterious]

1 hour ago, Betrayer said:

The cap makes no sense to me.

Spotrac shows the Pistons as having a maximum possible cap space of 49.7M.  I'm assuming that's partly because Duncan is only guaranteed 2M and Reed and Bobi are non-guaranteed, but that's not enough to make up the difference. Does Duren's 19.5M hold make up the rest? Make it make sense.

My $15.5 million in cap space includes Duren's cap hold and Robinson's full contract.  Add those two up (19m + 14m) + my original $15.5 million in space, and you're right at $49 million in cap space.  

Spotrac saying maximum includes Klintman and Reed still on the books for some reason.  Technically, they could cut both and create even more cap space.  

 

EDIT: Right around $56 million if Klintman and Reed were to be cut.  

Edited 14 hours ago by Deleterious

[1984Echoes]

A few post-deadline thoughts:

1) Disappointed Trajan couldn't find some way to add an experienced ball-handler... But maybe that's still possible if there's a released vet that fits.

2) Looking towards next season: and still needing a secondary ball-handler that can run the bench and jump up to the starters to help Cade as needed... are any of Jenkins, Sasser, or Lanier an answer, or at least partially the answer? I think that's a rhetorical question (IMO) because the answer I believe is no. Although Jenkins is getting very close... IMO, that still needs to be addressed in the offseason.

3) I guess that means looking at the draft as one possible avenue... I'm not an expert on college basketball players so anyone with better info/ opinions feel free to speak up.

If we end up with the #22 pick, or can trade up a few spots (if needed) to a mid-1st... I think I am looking 1st and foremost at a 3&D Forward. I have my eyes on a power forward: Chris Cenac, Jr. and a small forward: Amari Allen.

Do those two qualify? Are they good enough to eventually be a starter? Does one of them fall to the mid-to-late 1st? Do they need to declare? Or are they definitely in this draft?

As for a 3&D point guard... yes, we need that too. But I think we can get that in the 2nd round... maybe? How many 2nd rounders do we have this year? I thought 2 or 3 conditional picks were coming our way... but when do we know exactly which ones? Because I think Trajan should take several swings at ball-handlers with range and defense in the 2nd, as well as with undrafted free agents.

Sort of a mini-tryout over the summer to find someone that has those capabilities and can stick on the roster. Or even excel.

 

Otherwise, can we still go after free agents such as Dosunmu or similar?

[Deleterious]

No clue what we need to do for backup PG until we see how Jenkins does in the playoffs.

I know nothing about the draft after the top 3 guys.

It's sort of fluid, but Detroit will most likely only have the MLE and BAE to spend on free agents this summer.  Those numbers will be set when the salary cap is set.  But MLE should be around $15-16 million and BAE just short of $6 million.

This shows you every teams upcoming draft picks.

https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/draft/future_drafts/team

[buddha]

is cade/duren/ausar a championship core?

[1984Echoes]

2 hours ago, buddha said:

is cade/ duren/ ausar a championship core?

I think that's a good core.

But for championships, they'll need more than just that. IMO...

Well... we'll see a lot in this year's playoffs. Maybe enough to know exactly what we are missing and what needs to improve (with better players).

Right now it looks like to me they have high quality depth and high quality support players (meaning, there are no stars amongst the rest of the team, but it does look like there are a lot of high floor guys that have bought into the team concept of defense first, and they all contribute something to winning games...).

I don't know if the team as constructed today is championship worthy...

But again, the upcoming playoffs should indicate weaknesses to work on.

[1984Echoes]

Thanks Del...

So realgm says only one 2nd rounder this year and multiple in the following few years...

As for 1st round this year... I like the looks of Cenac and Allen, and even Yaxel Lendeborg as a 3rd option with a higher floor but not as athletic or high-ceiling as the other two.

I want to use our 2nd rounder and scouring undrafted's to find a couple of 3&D ball-handlers/ playmakers to give Jenkins some competition.

Just my 2 cents.

 

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by 1984Echoes

[Betrayer]

5 hours ago, buddha said:

is cade/duren/ausar a championship core?

Unlikely, though it's tough be sure at ages 22-24. Then again, there's only 1 championship team each year, so it's pretty unlikely for any core in the league. 

Did anyone think the '04 team was a championship core at the time? I was on this message board (yes, I'm old) and I can tell you they didn't.

Imagine if before the season you asked if this core would be the #1 seed in the East by 5+ games in February. Think anyone would have said "yes"? I didn't see anyone but the most blindly optimistic predicting even the #3 seed and most were predicting #4-#6 or even a big falloff after losing Beasley/Shroeder/Hardaway.

I'm sure your point is that they'll need a second star to truly compete at some point, and overall I agree with that. Hell, I think they might need a better in-game coach. But I also understand Trajan wanting to be patient with such a young team if the right deal wasn't out there. For now, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt that the right move hasn't come around yet.

Edited 5 hours ago by Betrayer