Next year has to be better.
The Detroit Pistons, finishing Year 4 of their rebuild, are fresh off a season in which they had the worst record not only in the NBA but also in franchise history. They had an unforgettable 28-game losing streak. All of the built-up goodwill and optimism seemingly evaporated into thin air.
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Again, next year has to be better.
Detroit has avenues to improve next season. It’ll likely take aggressive moves and a little luck, but the opportunities are there. Whoever is named the new president of basketball operations will have his hands full but also will have tools to work with. The Pistons have the best odds at landing the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. It’s a class many evaluators and executives are down on but comes with value if a team lands the top choice.
The Pistons also have roughly $60 million in cap space. Furthermore, all signs are pointing toward Cade Cunningham getting an extension this summer.
Because of Detroit’s current situation and the catastrophic 2023-24 season, the Pistons likely will have to make decisions sooner than they wanted on one or two of their young core pieces. It’s hard to see how the team vastly improves the roster without parting ways with one of them. The luxury of allowing some players to develop in hopes that they hit is no longer there. Tough calls have to be made.
Here, I’m going to attempt to build an improved, competitive roster for the 2024-25 season using the NBA Draft, trades and free agency. In this exercise, I’m going to work under the assumption that the Pistons win the 2024 draft lottery because, well, it only makes sense that Detroit gets the No. 1 pick in an undesirable draft class.
Let’s get into it.
2024 NBA Draft
Players added: None.
As mentioned, I’m working under the assumption that Detroit lands the No. 1 pick. One way the Pistons can add more proven, NBA talent — which is needed and also more realistic than adding a star at this stage — is by trading their pick in this year’s draft.
Here is my proposal: The Pistons trade their 2024 first-round pick (No. 1), Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren to the Brooklyn Nets for Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith and a 2025 first-round pick (via Phoenix Suns, top-14 protected).
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I’d be afraid to part ways with both Ivey and Duren, as both are very young and still have upside despite rocky sophomore seasons, but this is the situation Detroit finds itself in. It has to make an aggressive moves in order to make serious strides. Cunningham, who has the highest trade value on the team, isn’t going anywhere. Ivey and Duren both have value around the league, and while this free-agency class is meh, Detroit can address both positions in the open market (more on that below).
In this scenario, the Pistons address a significant need on the wing, getting one of the better 3-and-D wings in the NBA in Bridges and a very solid 3-and-D wing in Finney-Smith. Both players have multiple years left on their respective contracts. Having those two with Ausar Thompson, Simone Fontecchio and Quentin Grimes would mean Detroit being legitimately set at the wing rotation for several years. As for the Nets, who had a disappointing season and appears to have a real ceiling as constructed, they should start rebuilding around youth, and the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft and two recent lottery picks in Ivey and Duren is a really good way to begin that process.
Furthermore in this trade scenario, if my math is correct, the Pistons still will have roughly $34 million to use in free agency, while this deal opens up about $15 million in cap space for the Nets (after they sign the No. 1 pick).
Free agency
Cap space: $34 million (after trade)
Following that hypothetical trade, the Pistons no longer need to target Tobias Harris, a name that has long been linked to Detroit. Bridges, Finney-Smith, Thompson and Fontecchio all can toggle between both forward spots.
After reluctantly moving on from Duren, the Pistons still need to address the center position. They need someone who is a positive on the defensive end and a legitimate lob threat for Cunningham on offense.
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Enter Nic Claxton.
The 25-year-old Claxton, a free agent this summer, checks both boxes for the Pistons. In talking to people around the league, many believe he’ll command around $20 million annually in the open market. Let’s say, for the sake of this exercise, Detroit offers Claxton a three-year deal worth $66 million. It may be a bit of an overpay, but it would give the Pistons a two-way, proven center and leave them still with about $12 million in cap space.
From there, I’d use the remaining cap space to sign a veteran backup point guard. I’ll go with Delon Wright in this scenario, assuming he won’t command more than $3 million annually. With about $9 million left in cap space, I’d target a third big and a lower-end rotation player. Let’s go with Thomas Bryant, who I’d give a wink-wink deal to his agent that if the center opted out of his $2.8 million player option, I’d give him $3.2 million to $3.5 million. Bryant, who is from Rochester, N.Y., is very close with Isaiah Stewart.
At that point, Detroit would have about $6 million to use to round out the rest of its roster — which, by this point, is in pretty good shape.
2024-25 roster
Guards: Cade Cunningham, Marcus Sasser, Quentin Grimes, Delon Wright
Wings: Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith, Simone Fontecchio, Ausar Thompson
Bigs: Isaiah Stewart, Nic Claxton, Thomas Bryant
By my count, in this made-up world, Detroit would have about 10 legitimate NBA rotation players on its roster, which was not the case last season.
There is a lot of versatility on the wings, with an emphasis on length and shooting. Assuming all goes well, the Pistons significantly will have addressed their defensive issues from a season ago while also adding more proven shooting.
Bridges is the perfect player to play alongside someone like Cunningham. And while it would take a pretty serious haul to get him, it’s worth it given his age, skill set and the fact Detroit didn’t have to give up future assets to do it.
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Will this exact scenario play out this summer? Probably not. I’m not Nostradamus, but these are the types of aggressive moves the Pistons should look at in order to be not just better than last season but also, dare I say, decent in the Eastern Conference sooner rather than later.
(Photo of Cade Cunningham and Mikal Bridges: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)
