Pistons reportedly eyeing controversial trade target

Speed finger painter, Jarred Emerson, unveils the new Detroit Pistons logo on Tuesday, May 16, 2017 at Campus Martius Park in Detroit. Mandatory Credit: Elaine Cromie, Detroit Free Press

The Detroit Pistons may be trying to divert the attention away from their NBA-record losing streak by doing something controversial.

Shams Charania of The Athletic said Wednesday during an appearance on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back” that Detroit is actively looking to trade for a power forward. One of the names Charania mentions as being on the Pistons’ radar is Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges.

The 25-year-old Bridges is a native of Michigan and attended Michigan State University for college. He also offers scoring and inside toughness, posting 19.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this year. Those are two attributes that the toothless Pistons badly need.

But Bridges is one of the more notorious names in the NBA right now, and many question whether he should still be in the league at all due to his off-court issues. Bridges was arrested in June 2022 for alleged felony domestic violence and eventually ended up pleading no contest to the charges against him (thereby avoiding jail time). He was suspended for 30 total games by the NBA because of the incident (ultimately spread out over two seasons) and then got arrested again in October for allegedly violating a protective order stemming from the original case. Bridges’ host of legal troubles recently even got him denied entry into Canada for a game.

As for the Pistons, they are the NBA’s toilet bowl right now at 2-28. They achieved some shameful all-time history on Tuesday night with their record-setting 27th loss in a row (resulting in a brutal chant from their own fans). Things can’t get any worse right now for the Pistons, so perhaps the PR hit that would come with trading for Bridges won’t mean much to them.