Should anyone besides Cade be "untouchable"?

[Snakebites]

Cade is the face of the franchise, and I think trading him as his extension kicks in is unlikely to the point that it's not even worth discussing as a real possibility, and I doubt we'd get a trade offer worth doing for him anyway.

Is there anyone else that you flat out DON'T want to trade, and wouldn't in any realistic deal?

We'll go ahead and assume guys like Giannis are out of reach for us. We'll also assume pie in the sky scenarios like the draft rights to Cooper Flagg becoming available won't happen either. Stick with REALISTIC targets.

Is there anyone else who you'd straight up straight up NOT willing to move? It could be because you think they're too valuable to trade, or that your perception of their value is higher than what we could get for them. For any reason at all, are there guys you think should be off limits in trades?

Just trying to get a sense here.

For the record- I think that ALL of our other players should be on the table, but I want to see if anyone disagrees.

[GreekAlex]

Clearly none are untouchable but they’re likely worth more to the Pistons than a trade partner unless there’s a one off anomaly.

I struggle to identify a player that is in the right age range to partner with Cade where the team trading them would prefer our guys for a rebuild.

[Snakebites]

Clearly none are untouchable but they’re likely worth more to the Pistons than a trade partner unless there’s a one off anomaly.

I struggle to identify a player that is in the right age range to partner with Cade where the team trading them would prefer our guys for a rebuild.

I have changed the wording slighty to "should anyone besides Cade be untouchable" so it's clear I'm looking for opinions on players and not speculations about where TL and the front office are at with these guys.

I personally don't think it HAS to be someone all that close to Cade in age. We're looking for a window here, not necessarily someone Cade has to spend the rest of his career with.

That's just my opinion.

We'd all love it if the Cavs made Evan Mobley available but we all know that's not happening. Really good guys Cade's age generally don't get traded- they're untouchable for the same reason Cade is.

[Rip32]

Cade is the face of the franchise but he's not a generational talent. I would say nobody is untouchable depending on what players are available. But, yeah but Cade is this team's best player.

[Snakebites]

Cade is the face of the franchise but he's not a generational talent. I would say nobody is untouchable depending on what players are available. But, yeah but Cade is this team's best player.

I'm not even going to argue that philosophically.

But I'm absolutely positive we aren't trading Cade, which is why he was pre-emptively excluded from the discussion.

[Invictus88]

GreekAlex is right. We likely won't get good value because folks undervalue our players in general.

I really don't think we should trade any of them and let us develop more. All of them are super young and have shown signs of becoming much more and they are already contributing now.

Ausar is the truly untouchable one but trading any of the others for a more established vet is jumping the gun. Let's not be Atlanta.
The movement should happen with the existing vets depending on salary demands / market.

FA priority resigning if reasonable contracts can be made:
1. Beasley (Still in his prime at 28)
2. Schroder (less important if we think Ivey is our solution at PG)
3. THJ or equivalent shooter that can be had cheaply
3. Reed or an equivalent 3rd big (A must to have someone in this slot)

Package Sasser and Font together for peanuts if we can get that.
Let Lindy Waters walk.

[GreekAlex]

Clearly none are untouchable but they’re likely worth more to the Pistons than a trade partner unless there’s a one off anomaly.

I struggle to identify a player that is in the right age range to partner with Cade where the team trading them would prefer our guys for a rebuild.

I have changed the wording slighty to "should anyone besides Cade be untouchable" so it's clear I'm looking for opinions on players and not speculations about where TL and the front office are at with these guys.

I personally don't think it HAS to be someone all that close to Cade in age. We're looking for a window here, not necessarily someone Cade has to spend the rest of his career with.

That's just my opinion.

We'd all love it if the Cavs made Evan Mobley available but we all know that's not happening. Really good guys Cade's age generally don't get traded- they're untouchable for the same reason Cade is.

When I mentioned “right age”, I wasn’t insinuating that they should be from Cade’s draft class or near it. I just don’t want to invest in a player on the wrong side of 30 that would offer a smaller window and have diminishing value as the cruise into the twilight of their career.

Tatum & Brown are both 28 or less and have been contenders for a few years.

Murray & Jokic are 28 & 30 respectively and have already won their title.

I just don’t want to invest in a running mate that is on a completely different timeline.

We’re still 2 years away from being a true contender if things break right and I don’t want a player in their mid 30’s when that window opens.

[Snakebites]

Clearly none are untouchable but they’re likely worth more to the Pistons than a trade partner unless there’s a one off anomaly.

I struggle to identify a player that is in the right age range to partner with Cade where the team trading them would prefer our guys for a rebuild.

I have changed the wording slighty to "should anyone besides Cade be untouchable" so it's clear I'm looking for opinions on players and not speculations about where TL and the front office are at with these guys.

I personally don't think it HAS to be someone all that close to Cade in age. We're looking for a window here, not necessarily someone Cade has to spend the rest of his career with.

That's just my opinion.

We'd all love it if the Cavs made Evan Mobley available but we all know that's not happening. Really good guys Cade's age generally don't get traded- they're untouchable for the same reason Cade is.

When I mentioned “right age”, I wasn’t insinuating that they should be from Cade’s draft class or near it. I just don’t want to invest in a player on the wrong side of 30 that would offer a smaller window and have diminishing value as the cruise into the twilight of their career.

Tatum & Brown are both 28 or less and have been contenders for a few years.

Murray & Jokic are 28 & 30 respectively and have already won their title.

I just don’t want to invest in a running mate that is on a completely different timeline.

We’re still 2 years away from being a true contender if things break right and I don’t want a player in their mid 30’s when that window opens.

Yeah, I used Mobley as an example because it was the first thing to come to mind but I wasn't intending to reduce what you were saying to mean that it MUST be from the same draft year. I'm probably less particular about time frame than you though.

[MotownMadness]

Ausar is the only other guy I feel that way about

[MortSahlfan]

My rankings (after Cade)

1. Stew
2. Ausar
3. Schroder
4. Ron
5. Duren

along with Cade, and upgrading using picks is a win now move, and Cade needs help. With our luck, we'll have injured guys in the playoffs, so I think Cade needs one All-Star who is still in his 20s, preferably a 3 and D guy

[Snakebites]

People who say our players are "undervalued"- what is the basis for this claim?

I don't get the impression there is a wealth of actual knowledge about how opposing front offices value guys like Ausar, Ivey, etc.

[Cowology]

Non of them are "untouchable", although I'm extremely hesitant to move either Ausar or Ron. I'd much rather package around Ivey/Duren/Picks.

In terms of value it's kinda hard to say. I'd think Ausar would have decent value right now despite his poor offense. Part of that just his brothers good PR rubbing off on him, but the dude makes an obvious impact on winning. After that I think Duren probably has the most value. He *looks* like a young stud and is a double-double machine. I don't know that either Ivey or Ron have enough value around the league to even entertain moving them. Ivey has to show he's healthy and Ron simply has to log more minutes.

Stew is pretty damn close to unmovable for me as well, but that's been my guy since day 1. I have long argued that he's actually on a good contract that gets better over time and that every good team needs/wants guys like him. There is 100% a market for him and will be every single year, but he's not a throw in and not somebody we should be looking to move.

From a culture standpoint I also wouldn't want to mess with the THj/Beasley/Harris mix of vets. Continuity is a good thing. Not untouchable, but IF I'm coming off those guys (especially Harris) then I need a pretty damn good reason. That dude came in and did his job and I think there is something to be said for showing some respect & appreciation for that. At the end of the day business is business and I think he'd get that... but man, if I were shipping him out.. that's not a conversation I'd wanna have with him. Heartbreaking. Let that man be our Haslem and finish his career here.

[tmorgan]

My rankings (after Cade)

1. Stew
2. Ausar
3. Schroder
4. Ron
5. Duren

along with Cade, and upgrading using picks is a win now move, and Cade needs help. With our luck, we'll have injured guys in the playoffs, so I think Cade needs one All-Star who is still in his 20s, preferably a 3 and D guy

I don’t entirely agree, but I like this ranking anyway. Culture first.

[bstein14]

Ausar still has a massive upside due to his athletic prowess. He's someone I wouldn't trade unless we're getting an all-star caliber player back. There's a reason that Houston is essentially saying Amen is off limits in trade talks but they'd be open to move anyone else in a deal.

Like if we're not getting back Giannis, JJJ, Booker, etc I'm not trading Thompson. Wouldn't move him for someone who's just a good starter like a Jerami Grant or Julius Randle.

[Invictus88]

People who say our players are "undervalued"- what is the basis for this claim?

I don't get the impression there is a wealth of actual knowledge about how opposing front offices value guys like Ausar, Ivey, etc.

I just don't think that there is a lot of attention paid to our guys in general (especially heading into last year). Folks here valued them much higher than folks on other boards based on various discussions. We've largely been proven correct based on how they played the second half of the year.

We need to see if the tenor has changed since then? But its always been a bit of an uphill slog trying to convince others regarding the worthiness of our players.

I'm making a big inference based on those discussions in terms of how front offices might view them. So maybe this is incorrect? But I really don't have any other data to go on.

[Snakebites]

Totally get the FOMO with respect to Ausar and Holland given they are still to a certain extent unknowns in terms of their upside.

I don't think they are untouchable though I fully acknowledge they're not very likely to be moved.

[Cowology]

So... I've had this recurring thought and it doesn't totally make sense and doesn't really belong in any particular thread... but for some reason this team reminds me of the Nash/Marion/Amare era Phx Suns. You need to sort of get past the whole "they didn't play defense" thing, and then sort of ignore how our guys can't actually shoot...so ya know, complete opposites... but other than that, they are very similar. Cade/Ausar/Duren give me similar vibes.

Does anybody else get me? Or have I completely lost it??

[Snakebites]

So... I've had this recurring thought and it doesn't totally make sense and doesn't really belong in any particular thread... but for some reason this team reminds me of the Nash/Marion/Amare era Phx Suns. You need to sort of get past the whole "they didn't play defense" thing, and then sort of ignore how our guys can't actually shoot...so ya know, complete opposites... but other than that, they are very similar. Cade/Ausar/Duren give me similar vibes.

Does anybody else get me? Or have I completely lost it??

Cade makes plays. Duren picks and rolls. Ausar is a versatile defender.

But I'm sure plenty of teams have 3 guys with that very vague profile.

So no. I don't get it.

[tmorgan]

So... I've had this recurring thought and it doesn't totally make sense and doesn't really belong in any particular thread... but for some reason this team reminds me of the Nash/Marion/Amare era Phx Suns. You need to sort of get past the whole "they didn't play defense" thing, and then sort of ignore how our guys can't actually shoot...so ya know, complete opposites... but other than that, they are very similar. Cade/Ausar/Duren give me similar vibes.

Does anybody else get me? Or have I completely lost it??

If you mean we’re trying to win in a different way than the rest of the league, it’s almost true. None of the established teams play the way we do, but we’re one of THREE young teams with a defense-first identity (ORL, HOU).

Well, I guess OKC puts defense first, too, so not even that. oh well.

[guldakot]

We have no idea what the current ceiling of this team is, outside of adding a PF in free agency (unless a too good to pass up situation happens) I don't want to trade anyone. Midpoint of next season after we get to see how Ausar and Holland are developing, and if Ivey is meshing with Cade, then we can start making decisions. We just made the jump from 14-44 wins, and pushed the Knicks to 6 games in a series they had a legit chance of winning. Resign Beez, try and bring back Schroeder, but other then that just let it ride.