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What's the story?
The struggling and stumbling Detroit Pistons have made their starting shooting guard Avery Bradley, available in trade talks.
In case you didn't know
The NBA's mid-season trade deadline of February 8th is fast approaching and the Pistons look eager to get some value back in exchange for Bradley's expiring contract.
Heart of the matter
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the Pistons price for Bradley is quite significant. They aim to get better with a pre-deadline trade in order to fix their currently slumping form. Detroit has lost their last eight games and 12 of their last 15, since losing starting point guard Reggie Jackson to an ankle injury.
Bradley, currently earning $8.8 million, was acquired from the Boston Celtics this past offseason in exchange for Marcus Morris. In addition, there is more value to trading Bradley due to his contract expiration - he is slated to become a free agent this upcoming summer. It also assures the Pistons of something in return instead of seeing him walk away as a free agent.
Having renounced the rights to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who went on to sign with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Pistons were surely planning on a long-term partnership with Bradley but clearly the team's poor run this season has changed their plans.
Bradley has played 40 of the 48 games for the 22-26 Pistons, averaging 15.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists while shooting 40.9 from the field and 38.1% from beyond the arc.
Prior to being traded to Detroit, Bradley spent seven seasons in Boston after the franchise drafted him 19th overall in the 2010 Draft.
What's next?
Things aren't looking great for the Pistons. After losing to the Cavaliers in Cleveland, they play the reigning East Champs once again, this time in downtown Detroit on Tuesday night.
Author's take
The list of teams that will be mutually beneficial for the Pistons to trade with will be a very small list. A non-contender might not trade for Bradley because of his expiring contract, on the other hand, a contender might not be willing to give too much away to acquire Bradley, which is exactly what the Pistons want.
