Detroit Pistons: The elephant in the room this trade deadline

The NBA trade deadline is now a week away and it’s still unclear what the Detroit Pistons are going to do, if they do anything.

Predicting the Pistons’ trade deadline moves is probably a fool’s errand, as they’ve been involved in a ton of rumors, but we know that smoke doesn’t necessarily mean fire when it comes to NBA trades.

Bojan Bogdanovic has been at the center of most of them, Alec Burks’ name has repeatedly come up, and most recently we’ve heard some rumors about Saddiq Bey.

Of course, the Detroit Pistons could keep all of them, but whether it is at this trade deadline or in the offseason, there is an elephant in the room that needs to be addressed, and that’s the defense and fit of Bojan Bogdanovic and Saddiq Bey.

The wing position is arguably the most important in the NBA and right now the Pistons don’t really have one, and it’s difficult to see how this team improves until that changes.

Detroit Pistons: Defense and fit

The Detroit Pistons have their worst defense in franchise history this season as a team and also field some of the worst individual defenders in the league, especially on the perimeter.

You can give rookie Jaden Ivey a pass, as he is still learning the game, has been thrust into a tough situation and has the tools to be a good defender. He may never be great, but it’s unlikely that he is this bad for much longer.

Of much greater concern is the forward position, as Bojan Bogdanovic and Saddiq Bey have the second and third-highest defensive ratings among forwards this season and neither of them can really defend the small forward position at all.

Putting them on the floor together has been a disaster, and if you look at the Pistons’ lineup combinations this season, nearly all of the worst ones defensively involve their two forwards.

Fit is also an issue. If you put Bogdanovic in his best position as the starting power forward and bring Bey off the bench, then Isaiah Stewart is also pushed to the bench, in which case you are stuck using Bey as a small forward with Stewart and Marvin Bagley III as the front court, which is not ideal on either end.

Ultimately, the best move may be to find a way to get rid of MBIII and just play Stewart off the bench as a hybrid 4/5 with Bey as the backup power forward, but finding a taker for Bagley III won’t be easy.

The Detroit Pistons have one real center on the team (Jalen Duren) and then a bunch of tweener power forwards in Bogdanovic, Bey, Stewart and Bagley III. It’s difficult to see how all of these pieces will ever fit or how the defense will ever improve with all of these players in the rotation.

Troy Weaver has largely made what I would call “transaction moves” as the Pistons’ GM, as he has mostly won the deals overall, but little thought was given to how all of the pieces might come together to form a team.

It doesn’t have to happen at the trade deadline, but eventually, this needs to be sorted, as Detroit has too many of one position and not enough of another.