Yesterday afternoon, the Detroit Pistons agreed to a three-team trade with the Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves that saw the Motor City part ways with fourth-year guard Jaden Ivey in exchange for Dario Saric, Kevin Huerter and a first-round pick swap with the T-Wolves. 

At first glance, the Pistons’ trade could serve as a silent admission that Ivey was not going to work out in Detroit long-term after a lengthy recovery from a broken fibula and arthroscopic knee surgery. In fact, Ivey was never able to regain his starting role on the Pistons this season, and the club is now moving in a different direction with the explosive combo guard heading to the Windy City for the next chapter of his basketball career.

As for the Pistons, yesterday’s trade actually serves as the precursor for an additional move to come through the pipeline before the NBA’s Trade Deadline on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 3 pm. At the moment, the Pistons have 16 players on their roster, which is one above the league’s limit, but Detroit faces another quandary– finding space for Daniss Jenkins, who has one game left of eligibility before his two-way contract must be converted to a standard deal.

Now, the Pistons do have the opportunity to waive Saric virtually immediately (in addition to another play such as Wendell Moore Jr. or Bobi Klintman), but it is not the only path to roster space for Jenkins. 

If Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon is seeking an alternative where he could recoup some value as opposed to waiving a pair of players, perhaps there’s another suitor across the league that steps up to the bargaining table. Huerter and Saric were available to be traded yesterday before the three-team deal became official, but that opportunity has passed by. 

According to Article VII Section 6 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Saric and Huerter fall under the 60-day rule where players cannot be traded another time for two months unless the deal happens immediately and is part of a salary-matching agreement. Otherwise, two months must pass before either Huerter or Saric can be re-aggregated as part of another trade. Now that the three-team deal with the Bulls and Timberwolves is official, both newly acquired players are likely to remain in Detroit unless Saric is waived. 

However, a potential Huerter / Saric deal is far from the only option at Langdon’s disposal. With Caris LeVert still struggling to find an impactful role in Detroit after returning from a prolonged illness, the veteran guard might be up for a change of scenery, though Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff has considerable appreciation for the Michigan product’s game.

Either way, the Pistons are still without a true secondary scorer to pair with Cade Cunningham, which stood as one of Detroit’s primary goals heading into the Trade Deadline. Simply opening up enough space for Jenkins could be considered a mild victory, but the Pistons are in a position to challenge for the NBA Championship. 

That’s why Detroit needs to remain on the lookout for another lethal, volume three-point shooter to bring into the fold over the next 30 hours. While Huerter does address the Pistons’ need for perimeter gravity, the former Bulls shooter is averaging just 31% from downtown this season after posting a 37% rate throughout his career, so he's been in a slump through the first half of the season. 

In terms of outside shooting, Michael Porter Jr., Norm Powell and Ayo Dosunmu are players who could be available for the right price. Considering the Pistons own all of their future first-round draft picks, Detroit has the levers to pull in order to meet whatever price is set for the type of perimeter scoring that could lift the Pistons from a title contender to a front-runner. 

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