Why the Detroit Pistons Could Be Bracing for a Miles Bridges Trade

The Detroit Pistons have ended the Jaden Ivey experiment after his struggles this season.

They netted a sharpshooter in Kevin Huerter, and a 2026 pick swap from the Timberwolves for the former fifth overall pick.

The Pistons also acquired forward/center Dario Šarić, who had just been traded from Sacramento to Chicago. The Bulls did not aggregate Šarić’s contract, so they retained the ability to trade his salary again, bypassing the normal 60 day recently traded restriction.

The Pistons opted to follow this same path, and also retain the ability to trade Dario Šarić, and his $5.2 million salary number this season. This will remain a significant aspect of the Ivey trade.

Pistons familiarity

While rare, Pistons fans saw this happen just a year ago at last year’s trade deadline when former Piston Dennis Schroder was involved in the Jimmy Butler trade.

Within 24 hours, Schroder went from a member of the Warriors to the Heat, the Jazz, and finally the Pistons all thanks to this same rule.

Landing Miles Bridges

Since we now know it is possible to move Šarić for a third time before Thursday's deadline, let’s look at one prospect that’s been in Piston’s trade rumors for some time now.

The Pistons are internally considering making a trade for Michael Porter Jr or Miles Bridges, per @TheSteinLine pic.twitter.com/9FiFuJmYGW
— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔱𝔯𝔬𝔦𝔱 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢𝔰 📰 (@the_det_times) January 31, 2026

Early rumors for Miles Bridges suggested having to part ways with Tobias Harris and/or Jaden Ivey. Since Ivey is gone and the Pistons would love to hold onto Harris, who has had a phenomenal season, we can explore other candidates to be exchanged for Bridges.

Candidates

The first candidate to be moved for Bridges would be Isaiah Stewart. While Stewart’s contract isn’t quite enough to land Bridges, the boost from Šarić’s deal would make this much more possible for the Pistons.

Since both Stewart and Bridges are power forwards, Stewart highlights the candidacy to acquire Bridges. Stewart’s youth and potential also offers the capabilities to do this trade with as few draft picks as possible going from Detroit to Charlotte.

Another candidate to be traded for Miles Bridges would be Caris LeVert. LeVert has struggled and missed some time, making him a potential trade deadline casualty as well.

With LeVert’s struggles, the Hornets might ask for some extra draft capital in return. However, with the extra salary filler from Saric, the Pistons could get it done without giving up any other players.

Beyond this season

Acquiring Bridges would be an extremely low risk move for the Pistons as he is on a front-loaded contract meaning he will make less money in his next and final season of his deal than he did in this season.

Bridges bears a $25 million cap hit for this season. However, next season he will only make $22 million freeing up some space for the Pistons to continue to improve the roster.

Should the worst come to pass, and the Pistons do not require Bridges services after this year, he will be expiring next season and much easier to move.