Coming off of a four-player trade that creates abundant cap space for the Pistons to carry into the off-season, the impact of that deal and what comes next provides grist for the mill in the latest edition of Pistons Mailbag.
@JoelFel2555694: Let’s make another trade. That MUST be the magic sauce.
Langlois: I know you mean this facetiously, but it’s not crazy to think that the impact of a trade that does something to change the collective energy and chemistry of a group that’s existed under as much stress as the Pistons have this season is at least temporarily positive. It seems pretty clear the overarching aim of the trade was to provide the Pistons with even more cap space than they were already set to take into the summer, but the short-term impact is altering a status quo that had to be weighing on all of them.
@fergkam/IG: Is Monte Morris going to play this season?
Langlois: Fingers crossed, barring any further setbacks, there’s the hope he’ll be back around the end of the month. I don’t know what the record would look like had Morris not gotten injured in training camp – a back injury, then a thigh injury incurred during the rehabilitation that eventually required a platement-rich plasma injection – but I’m certain Morris would have had a significant impact on this team. I thought it was a severely underrated acquisition when it happened and I fully expected he would get something close to starter’s minutes, 25 to 30 a game. Given the youth of the primary ballhandlers in the backcourt – Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Killian Hayes – having Morris to calm the waters when things got choppy would have been invaluable. If you could wave a magic wand to fix anything that’s contributed to the 4-36 record, I’d pick turnovers. And Morris has an allergy to turnovers – the kind that fuel easy transition scoring chances – in addition to being a nearly 40 percent 3-point shooter.
Langlois: There’s no question he’s become a more intent scorer of late and Monty Williams spoke to how he’s encouraged him along those lines last week. “I think when guys do stuff in practice and they work at it, you’ve got to do it in the game. When I see him working on stuff and not doing it in the game, I’m like, ‘What’s the point of doing this stuff?’ If I see you doing it, my job is to push you doing it in games. Even if he’s not as comfortable, he’s a guy that has more levels to his game than he’s shown. He’s more than a lob threat or a finisher around the basket. He can do stuff with the ball unique to a guy his size and we want to encourage him to do it.” It’s worth emphasizing that Duren is all of 20 years old and notable that he’s holding his own against the top centers in the NBA at a position where conventional wisdom holds that players take more time to develop than other positions. Young players often spend a few years working on a move or a technique in practice before feeling comfortable enough to pull it off in a game. For all he’s been able to do so far, Duren has several more gears to hit at both ends of the floor. That’s why most see him right behind Cade Cunningham in the pecking order of valuable assets under Pistons control.
@MFABendigo: Hey, Keith, should the Pistons look at flipping Bogey and Burks now that they are back in form and could help a contender to increase future assets or get back a younger prospect?
Langlois: I’m sure Troy Weaver would say they should look at everything and trading veterans on expiring (or virtually so in Bogdanovic’s case, with only a reported $2 million guarantee on a $19 million deal for next season) contracts is one of the foundational pieces of a rebuilding effort. It’s going to be a little tougher in reality to part with those guys than it would have been theoretically coming into the season. The hope was those two plus Monte Morris and Joe Harris would provide the young Pistons central to their future an offensive structure with their 3-point shooting and absolute sense of how offenses function. But they’ve never had Morris available – hopefully that happens by month’s end – and both Burks and Bogdanovic have missed chunks of time or, in Burks’ case, struggled coming off of injury to recapture his rhythm. And the 4-36 record the Pistons taken into tonight’s midway point has resulted. Because the Pistons have failed to gain any traction – and the value of shooting is fresh in mind coming off Burks’ 34-point explosion, featuring eight triples, to spark Monday’s win at Washington – taking them away at this point isn’t doing the young players who clearly need the floor spacing those players provide favors and comes with its own peril. It’s not as easy a call as it might seem from a thousand yards removed. That said, I suspect if reasonable offers are made for any of Bogdanovic, Burks, Morris or Harris, there’s a real possibility one or more are dealt by the Feb. 8 deadline.
@brusa._r_/IG: What is Gallo’s situation?
Langlois: Danilo Gallinari comes to the Pistons on an expiring contract after signing a two-year deal with Boston ahead of the 2022-23 season and subsequently tearing his left ACL in August 2022, sitting out all of last season. He was traded to Washington last summer and played 26 games with the Wizards, though he was inactive for the last eight games before Sunday’s trade. We’ll see what the Pistons have in mind for him. He’s 35 now and athleticism, never a strong suit for Gallinari, has limited him mostly to playing small-ball center for Washington. There was immediate speculation when the trade became known that Gallinari would be a buyout candidate, but there’s nothing to substantiate that at this moment. It’s unlikely Monty Williams will find a spot in the rotation for both Gallinari and Mike Muscala now that Isaiah Stewart has returned from his foot injury. We’ll start to get some clues as to how they’ll be deployed in the days ahead.
@gadclark: What’s your take on James Wiseman’s year so far and opportunity going forward? What has he shown that might indicate upward trajectory? I think there’s something there.
Langlois: Oh, there’s something there, for sure. It’s why Wiseman was the No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft despite playing a total of 69 minutes of college basketball. Wiseman catches the eye in layup line, all length and grace and touch. The flashes are there. Stitching those together, playing with consistency and a high motor and honing his instincts as he stacks repetitions and learns personnel will determine how far Wiseman’s career takes him. He’s in year four and didn’t get a contract extension, so the days of Wiseman getting paid on potential are likely at an end. How he finishes the second half of the season will determine Wiseman’s immediate NBA future.
@joshue_pembrook/IG: How long will Cade be out?
Langlois: It was announced on Jan. 9 that he would be re-evaluated in seven to 10 days. We’re now in the middle of that time frame. Best-case scenario, he’ll be evaluated and cleared by the end of the week and be able to practice to test the soundness of his left knee, which suffered a strain in the Jan. 7 loss at Denver. Would expect an update as to how his situation has progressed sometime this week.