According to James L. Edwards of The Athletic, the Detroit Pistons are still reluctant to move on from veteran forward Bojan Bogdanovic. Despite losing 28 games in a row, the Pistons have frequently been rumored to be buyers in the trade market.
Why Won’t Detroit Trade Bogdanovic?
In a piece featuring Sam Vecenie, Edwards stated that the Pistons would only trade the 11-year veteran if they received an offer they could not refuse.
“The Pistons want to be good and don’t want to trade good players, even if Bogdanović’s role is reduced to a bench scorer next season.”
James L. Edwards, The Athletic
If this is the case, perhaps the Pistons should reconsider. It doesn’t take long to see why Detroit feels that they need Bogdanovic. He’s by far the team’s best shooter and most experienced player. If Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson are going to be the best perimeter teammates to pair with Cade Cunningham, then they’ll need to improve their shooting range. Detroit is correct in thinking that Bogdanovic can help with the development of these young players. The problem is that the 6’7” sharpshooter isn’t aligned with the team’s current window for a playoff run and may be more valuable to the franchise as a trade asset.
Should Detroit Trade Bogdanovic?
If the Pistons aren’t shopping Bogdanovic by the time the trade deadline approaches, they should at least be entertaining incoming offers. The 34-year-old doesn’t have many seasons left as an offensive threat in this league, but he’s scored at least 18 points per game on nearly 40% shooting from three-point range in every season since 2018. Bogdanovic could be a valuable piece to the right contender, and a team in need of a burst for their playoff run may be willing to offer more than Detroit could get if they wait for the offseason.
What’s Next for the Pistons?
Detroit looks to snap a 28-game losing streak tonight against the Toronto Raptors, who just traded OG Anunoby to the New York Knicks. A short-handed Raptors squad might be the perfect matchup for ending a historic skid, but what will the Pistons need to do to get back on track?
This season is too far gone. They need to focus on the future. This means more minutes for younger players and trying different lineups to see who they should be building around. Detroit needs to reassess its young talent to determine if this core is one a winning team can be built around. Rather than holding on to Bogdanovic to save their poor spacing, perhaps they need to entertain offers for Ivey or Thompson to see if they can make a deal to surround Cunningham with talent more suited to his skill set.
With Monty Williams’s massive contract, it’s expected that he’ll be the coach again next season. It’s clear that this current roster has issues with spacing, so Williams may need to add to his coaching staff for next year, especially if they do receive an offer for Bogdanovic that they can’t refuse.
Final Buzzer on Bogdanovic and the Pistons
What do you think? Are the Pistons better served keeping their veteran shooter, or should they trade him for more assets before the deadline? If you want to catch our team’s thoughts on this and more news from around the NBA, tune into The Bounce Thursdays at 9 pm EST on Bite-Size Sports!
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