Pistons GM Troy Weaver plans to be “aggressive” in searching for deals ahead of the deadline but he cautions that it may not be too eventful, as he told Keith Langlois of Pistons.com and other reporters on Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t expect a bunch of fireworks, but we’re going to be aggressive and comb the league and look at things to see if we can get better,” Weaver said. “But I don’t anticipate as much activity as we had in November. It would be kind of hard to top that.”
Detroit agreed to a buyout with Blake Griffin during the All-Star break and they traded veteran point guard Derrick Rose earlier in the season. Dennis Smith Jr. came to the Pistons in that Rose deal and Weaver said the franchise will take a “long, long look” at the former Knicks guard. While the organization likes what they see out of Smith, neither he nor anyone on the roster is “untouchable” in trade talks.
“Nobody is untouchable. … I learned, ‘Never say never,’ but there are some guys who are here to stay, so we’ll see. … I’ll say this guy is untouchable and then someone calls and offers four first-round picks. Strange things have happened.”
The Pistons are sitting at the bottom of the Eastern Conference and while they’re clearly looking to get younger, they don’t like to use the word “rebuild,” instead, stressing that this is a “restore.”
“My dad, he used to collect older cars, and he had a 1966 Monte Carlo that he was restoring. Before he passed, I would go out there and talk with him. He said, ‘You can only restore something that is great.’ That stuck with me,” Weaver said.
“There’s been greatness in Detroit. Three championships. That’s why I wanted to use it. No slight to what I’m about to say, but the Timberwolves can’t restore. They don’t have three championships. They don’t have the greatness. The Atlanta Hawks can’t restore. The Detroit Pistons can restore. We want to restore greatness back in the franchise.”
