Zach LaVine, De'Aaron Fox Trade Leaves Pistons on the Hunt

With the NBA trade deadline approaching, the only that’s become clear about the Detroit Pistons is that they remain a potential facilitator for a multi-team trade with their considerable amount of cap space.

Over the weekend, two NBA blockbuster deals went down. Neither involved the Michigan-based franchise.

One trade was so tight-lipped it forced ESPN’s Shams Charania to prove his X account didn’t get hacked when he sent out the initial report. There was really no way to tell whether the Pistons had a shot at getting involved in the Dallas Mavericks-Los Angeles Lakers’ shocking swap.

The trade that went down on Sunday, however, had rumblings of the Pistons being a part of it in the days leading up to the deal getting done.

The San Antonio Spurs landed the star guard De’Aaron Fox. The Sacramento Kings swapped out one star with another, landing Zach LaVine, and reuniting him with DeMar DeRozan out West.

Full trade:

Spurs: De'Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin

Kings: Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first round picks (2025 CHA, 2027 SAS, 2031 MIN), three second round picks (2025 CHI, 2028 DEN, 2028 own back)

Bulls: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 pick via SAS https://t.co/UgwylCUYAO
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 3, 2025

According to Charania, the full trade only includes the Spurs, Kings, and the Bulls.

If the Pistons want to help play facilitator, they’ll continue holding out.

One player’s market to keep an eye on for this scenario is Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans. Similar to LaVine, Ingram has been a common name thrown in the rumor mill over the past year.

With the Pelicans struggling to stay afloat in the Western Conference, and with Ingram set to become a free agent soon, there is an expectation that he could get moved. Don’t rule the Pistons out of landing Ingram entirely, but all signs are pointing to the Pistons avoiding a home-run swing at the deadline.

Oct 2, 2023; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans general manager Trajan Langdon speaks during Media Day at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, the Pistons are seeking a future first-round pick if they use $14 million in cap space in a multi-team scenario.

Hunting for a pick isn’t exactly a win-now move, but that’s seemingly been the plan from the jump. The Pistons might’ve surprised their peers and even themselves at this point in the year, but they aren’t jumping the gun and going all-in.

With the upcoming free agency market forming, Detroit could be more focused on making big changes in the summer and rolling with what they’ve got for the time being.

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