The Pistons are selling off players and planning for the future, ahead of Thursday's 3 p.m. trade deadline.
A day after shipping out veterans Kevin Knox and Monte Morris, the Pistons are trading their second leading scorer Bojan Bogdanovic and their second best three-point shooter Alec Burks to the Knicks for guards Quentin Grimes, Evan Fournier, Malachi Flynn and Ryan Arcidiacono and two future second-round picks, according to ESPN.
Burks is on an expiring contract, while Bogdanovic's deal is partly guaranteed for next season. Grimes is signed through next season, Fournier has a club option for next season, and Flynn and Arcidiacono are pending restricted free agents.
The two second-round picks will help the Pistons restock the draft cupboards after they sacrificed a 2024 second-rounder in the Knox trade that brought Simone Fontecchio to Detroit. They also acquired a 2024 second-rounder Thursday in a separate trade with the 76ers.
A late first-round pick in 2021, Grimes could be a keeper for Detroit. The 6'8 shooting guard scored 8.6 points per game and shot 38 percent from three over three seasons with the Knicks, though he's been limited by knee and hand injuries this season. He's also a quality defender.
Fournier, one of the better three-point shooters in the NBA when he's right, has only played in four games this season due to an ankle injury and personal reasons, and he only played in 27 games last season due to personal reasons and illnesses. He had fallen out of the Knicks' rotation under Tom Thibodeau after signing a four-year, $73 million deal with the team in 2021 that has a $19 million club option for next season.
Flynn and Arcidiacono were bit players for the Knicks. Flynn, who joined the team in December in the trade that brought OG Anunoby to New York and sent RJ Barrett to Toronto, is averaging 4.2 points and shooting 34 percent from three in 45 games this season. He was a late first-round pick of the Raptors in 2020. Arcidiacono has played scarce minutes this season and hasn't scored a point.
Bogdanovic was the Pistons' most reliable scorer the last two seasons. He's averaged 20.2 points per game and shot 42 percent from three this season after scoring a career-high 21.6 points per game last season. A 10-year vet who was acquired by the Pistons from the Jazz in 2022, he's on a two-year, $39 million deal that becomes fully guaranteed this summer for $19 million next season.
Burks, a 13-year vet, is averaging 12.6 points and shooting 40 percent from three this season, almost identical to the numbers he put up last season with the Pistons. He's in the final season of the three-year, $30 million deal that he signed with the Knicks in 2021.
The Pistons have also acquired a 2024 second-rounder from the 76ers, via the Knicks, and veteran forward Danuel House and the rest of his expiring $4.3 million salary this season in exchange for a protected second-rounder in 2028, per reports. An eight-year vet, House has scored 7.3 points per game and shot 36 percent from three for his career.