The Detroit Pistons, a young, rebuilding team, may be looking to trade a player who would be great for [checks notes] a young, rebuilding team.
Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports reported on Wednesday that the Pistons are taking early calls on 23-year-old forward Saddiq Bey. Fischer notes that this is a change in behavior by Detroit from recent trade windows.
The Pistons trading away Bey would be a surprise. He was their first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and went on to make the All-Rookie First Team. Bey is a gifted scorer who started all 82 games for Detroit last season, hits threes at a solid rate, and has stable defensive upside at 6-foot-7.
The only potential rationale for moving Bey is that he has regressed a bit this season (with 14.7 points and 4.8 rebounds a game) and will become eligible for an extension come the summer. But the Pistons already have one of the lowest payroll figures in the league and can afford to further develop Bey since they are an Eastern Conference-worst 4-15 on the season.
Nevertheless, there may be a greater agenda in play here. Maybe Detroit wants to keep their books as clear as possible in order to throw a max contract offer at this favorite son next offseason.
