Forget trade rumors surrounding Detroit Pistons OG Bojan Bogdanovic. He indicated that he is in the Pistons’ rebuild for the long haul during an interview with basketball website HoopsHype.

“Troy and the owners, they assured me that we’re going to be great next year,” Bogdanovic told HoopsHype.

Bogdanvic has been a key scorer for the Pistons since being traded last off season from Utah. He is averaging 21.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists. There has been speculation he would be traded to a contender in exchange for young pieces to help in the Pistons rebuild.

According to The Athletic the Pistons want a big haul for the 34-year-old Bogdanovic and are looking for a lottery unprotected first-round pick for him. The Los Angeles Lakers appear to be most interested but do not want to risk giving up a potential lottery pick.

The Pistons (13-39) are expected to be sellers at the Feb. 9 NBA trade deadline because they have the second worst record only ahead of the Houston Rockets (12-38).

This is another lost season for the Pistons. However, they had their eye on competing for a play-in game until a season-ending injury to Cade Cunningham (ankle) 12 games into the season. He was averaging 19.9 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists prior to the injury.

Cade hit his stride during a four-game stretch against the Hawks, Warriors and Bucks with averages of 27.75 points, 8.25 rebounds and 7,5 assists. He really showcased his all-around ability and overall effect on the game.

“When Cade went down that kind of hurt us big time,” Bogdanovic said. “We were thinking fighting for the Play-in tournament, but when he went down, he was our main guy. All of our offensive strategies were connected to him. When he went down, we’ve had a lot of ups and downs without him.””

Positive Developments

Killian Hayes and the rookies have been hot topic all season. Fans have posed question ranging from if coach Dwane Casey is utilizing and developing them correctly, to if Hayes would be a blemish Weavers’ record.

According to Bojan’s conversation with HoopsHype, he absolutely loves what he’s seen. The development of Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren have been a silver lining.

Hayes has gone from a historically bad star to the season where he was averaging more assists (3.1) than points (2.7) per game. He also shot less than 20% from three and from the field, which left little hope among even strong supporters. But he’s now averaging ten points, 5.7 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game.

Jaden Ivey has had a consistent rookie campaign. Though at times he’s seemed to go into a one or two game slump, his stats have held steady at around 15 points, four rebounds and 4.5 assists. The most fascinating part of his development has been offensive versatility. He started the season as a shooting guard, getting to the rim with ease. Since, he’s added mid range ability and has been successfully playing point guard.

Jalen Duren started the year with observers wondering if he’d spend time in the NBA’s G-League. About that, an injury rehab stint is about the most G-League I believe Duren will ever play. And that’s if he ever needs that. Over the last 15 games the rookie big man is averaging 11.1 points, 10 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. Opponents are challenging him less in the paint as well, though it would be nice to see his block numbers a little higher.

Detroit Pistons Future

Based on the way Bogdanovic is talking, it doesn’t seem like he will be traded. He mentioned that he spoke with Troy Weaver, which came with some assurances.

GREAT?!

I wonder what Weaver, and team owner Tom Gores have in mind to see this team make a movie like worst to first type improvement. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities as the Cleveland Cavaliers are proving. They drafted well, traded young assets and augmented young talent with the right veterans.

A formula the Pistons are also utilizing and hope to see the fruits of, by next season. “We have a lot of cap space to sign great players. We’re going to have a high pick again so that’s going to help us a lot. We have a great young group of guys.”