The Detroit Pistons still haven’t checked off the biggest item on their offseason list: they need another offensive creator to work next to Cade Cunningham, and they haven’t found one yet. With the market thinning fast, New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III is starting to look like the lone real path forward.
Murphy has been on Detroit’s radar for a while, and he’s drawn interest from plenty of teams along the way. But he remains in New Orleans, and as more creators come off the board through trades or free agency, the Pistons’ pool of realistic options keeps shrinking.
That matters because Detroit’s postseason exposed the problem in a hurry. The Pistons had the bones of a championship contender last season and finished as the best team in the Eastern Conference, but the playoffs told a different story.
In the first round, they had trouble creating offense beyond Cunningham and needed seven games to get past the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic. Then came another seven-game series loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round.
Tobias Harris helped at times, and so did Daniss Jenkins and Caris LeVert. But Detroit never had enough secondary punch. When Cunningham was off, the whole operation got shaky.
That’s why Murphy makes so much sense. He’d give the Pistons another scoring threat they can trust, and his long-range game would fit cleanly in Detroit. He also brings just enough self-creation to help address the exact issues that showed up in the playoffs.
The problem is that the list of alternatives is disappearing. Kawhi Leonard is off the market after being traded to the Toronto Raptors.
Tyler Herro appears headed to stay with the Milwaukee Bucks. Norman Powell signed with the Chicago Bulls in free agency.
So if Detroit wants to solve its creation problem, Murphy may be the last viable answer left. The Pistons need to move quickly.
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