What to do with Tobias

[Horace6766]

Let’s say the trade deadline comes and the pistons are 28 and 16 and around 4th place in the east. Teams start calling about Tobias who’s say averaging 14 5 and 2.5 and playing average defense while shooting 35% from the 3. Similiar stats to this past year. He’s your veteran leader in the locker room but is on an expiring deal at years end. Tobias has told you he knows this next contract is his last and will be chasing the best deal he can get. You also know you have to pay Ivey and Duran.

Do you trade Tobias at that point and if you don’t you know there’s a 75% chance or higher he walks at years end. If you trade him what’s a realistic expectation of a return for a 33 power forward who’s at best your 4th option on a good team and Probobly a bench player or fifth option on a championship contender.

Does a very late say 25 to 30 first round pick in 2028 do it for you? Does a bucket of second rounders and an expiring contract work for you. Is he part of a huge offer you make like Ivey Tobias Holland and 3 firsts for a Sabonis level player? Or do you keep him and potentially let him walk for nothing.

[LaSheed]

I just keep him and let him expire. See what happens in the playoffs if he's not included in a bigger piece for the future that is.

[flow]

No chance he's moved at the deadline unless the season has been a huge disappointment and they're out of the playoff race.

.

[the_l_train]

In that scenario, if we are 4th in the East I doubt Trajan goes and makes changes. If we are closer to a play-in team, different story.

I figure only way we are dealing him at this point is if we need to use his contract to make the money work in a bigger trade.

I see Tobias wanting to be with us long term as long as we are competing, and could see him taking a team friendly deal when the time comes. If we take a few steps back this coming season, I think he is definitely on the trading block though.

[Invictus88]

This scenario is contrived because of the sentence "Tobias has told you he knows this next contract is his last and will be chasing the best deal he can get." . That's not realistic.

Tobias has made a ton of money already (just over 300 million by the end of next year) and has ties to Detroit where he met his wife. I would think at this stage that location would be more important than padding the accounts? He doesn't strike me as a guy who would have frittered away his ample wealth and would need a last big score.

It's important to call out because it means that Tobias wouldn't be as likely to want to move on at the end of the year. Detroit is really the bad guy at that point if they chose to move him. And it also means he might be willing to take less to stay.

[the_l_train]

...and as much as I want a new PF to take his place in the starting lineup, he would be pretty ideal as our backup power forward. Don't hate the idea of keeping him long-term, and he really is a great vet/locker room guy.

He would really fortify our bench unit if we find our pipedream stretch 4.

[tmorgan]

If Tobias puts up another year similar to last year and plays solid in the playoffs again, I hope we keep him. I’ll assume we’ve come up with either a younger potential starter or at least some kind of time-share with Harris guy by that point. If that’s the case and he’s amenable, I’d have no qualms about giving him another 2/30 deal — a pay cut, for sure, but not a cheap contract.

He’s solid. He’s smart. He’s Unc. The team needs that guy, and there are no other candidates — the other vets are either more childlike (Beasley), a little prickly (Schroder, that’s his rep in the league), or just not significant. Now if we sign some other respected vet this summer or next it could change, but Tobias really is an amazing person and vet presence.

[Kilo]

Winning you keep him and let the season play out. But I wouldn't bat an eye to move him if Giannis came available and we could offer Harris, Ivey, Duren and Holland with FRP's as the winning bid.

[zeebneeb]

Keep him as your backup PF, and go grab one of the available PF on the market.

[Kalamazoo317]

Tobias wants to retire as a Piston and we'll probably assist him with that

[theBigLip]

A lot depends on the type of offer.

[GreekAlex]

Tobias wants to retire as a Piston and we'll probably assist him with that

I want that to be the case and I’d love us to upgrade at PF and have Tobias playing big minutes off the bench but he’s our only large tradable contract for salary matching purposes.

I’m really torn.

[MotownMadness]

Would be cool if he could stay around as our vet backup 4

[VicVinegar]

If he wants to sign a cheap extension (prior to deadline) as a bench veteran, awesome. Otherwise I'd like to trade him. Not like the Pistons can sign (or trade) for another $25M+ guy when his contract is off the books, so might as well trade him to match salaries and bring in a long term starter.

[mike06181]

You trade him and then resign him as a cheap free agent to be the backup pf. Why cant we have our cake and eat it too?

[mike06181]

Just kidding you keep him. Unless he is good with a trade

[Snakebites]

Keep him. He has no trade value and he’s helped us.

Plus he wants to be here. Seems like a non-question.

If you can attach him to a first to get a clear upgrade who fits our timeline sure, but I don’t see that.

[whitehops]

definitely keep him the whole season unless he's packaged to get someone like giannis (which isn't happening). he was so reliable as an iso outlet, he was pretty much automatic posting up in the mid range to get to his fadeaway. on top of that he's okay as a catch and shoot guy, is capable on defense and is a great teammate.

next off season will be a more interesting time for this discussion imo. don't get caught up about his age, he still produces on the court and he's pretty durable.

[MrBigShot]

Keep him. He was a rock for us all last season.

[tmorgan]

I don’t want to trade for a big salary guy unless it’s a monster, so I’m good with keeping Tobias thru next season, and hopefully bringing him back at a smaller number afterwards. Culture is a real thing, and Unc brings it.