Pistons’ mailbag: NBA trade deadline approach, Zach LaVine, Bojan Bogdanović and

The NBA’s trade deadline is a week away, and there are a lot of eyes on the Detroit Pistons.

The league’s worst team needs to find a way to continue to finish the season strong, building momentum for next season. With that, though, the Pistons have several helpful veterans who have garnered interest from rival teams — Bojan Bogdanović, Alec Burks and Monté Morris — as Feb. 8 approaches. Additionally, Detroit has multiple young pieces who are promising but it takes trading something good to get something good.

With the most anticipated day around these parts approaching, I decided to answer reader questions as it pertains to Detroit and the deadline.

Let’s get into it.

Editor’s note: Submitted questions have been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Can you clarify the protections on the Pistons’ 2024 first-round pick that could convey to New York? Isn’t there a very small chance that pick conveys, given where Detroit is in the standings? Or does New York straight up own it as of today? — @BMonastiere

The only way this pick would convey to New York this season is if Detroit goes on the most improbable second-half run in NBA history.

So … it will not convey this season.

For those confused on the protections on the Pistons’ draft pick that the Knicks own, hopefully this helps: top-18 protected in 2024, top-13 protected in 2025, top-11 protected in 2026, top-9 protected in 2027 and then turns into two second-round picks if it doesn’t convey by 2027.

In theory, Detroit covered itself when trading this pick in 2020 to help acquire Isaiah Stewart. If things went bad — they have — the Pistons would be able to still draft at the top of the draft and take more swings at acquiring high-end talent. However, with that said, the lingering pick has limited Detroit’s asset pool. Due to the Stepien Rule, the Pistons can’t trade a first-round pick of their own until 2029 or two years after the current one conveys, whichever comes first. That makes it very, very hard for Detroit to pull off a big-time trade without either getting the Knicks to agree on changing the protections or without throwing in one of their blue-chip talents.

That’s why I think it is very important that Detroit tries to acquire a first-round pick from somewhere in the very near future.

Is there any sense that the Pistons need to do something logical at the deadline to create job security or have they continued to be patient with the front office? — @PistonsTherapy

This question — or some form of it — is the most frequently asked.

Will Detroit do a big trade between now and next week? I’m not sure. I wouldn’t be surprised either way. My gut tells me no, but you never know. I have my intel — which I shared last week — but things can pop up at any second this time of the year. News can become old very quickly. I do think Troy Weaver and Co. do *something* before the deadline.

If the Pistons make a big trade, though, I don’t…