Pistons, Wizards Rosters After Rumored Danilo Gallinari and Marvin Bagley III Trade

Tyler Conway@@jtylerconwayFeatured Columnist IVJanuary 14, 2024

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The Detroit Pistons reportedly agreed to send forwards Marvin Bagley and Isaiah Livers and two second-round picks to the Washington Wizards in exchange for forwards Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported terms of the deal, which was financially motivated from Detroit’s side. The Wizards will owe Bagley $12.5 million next season.

Here is a look at both teams’ updated rosters:

Detroit Pistons

PG: Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes
SG: Jaden Ivey, Alec Burks, Marcus Sasser, Joe Harris
SF: Bojan Bogdanovic, Asuar Thompson, Kevin Knox II
PF: Isaiah Stewart, Danilo Gallinari, Mike Muscala
C: Jalen Duren, James Wiseman

Washington Wizards

PG: Tyus Jones, Delon Wright, Jared Butler
SG: Jordan Poole, Corey Kispert, Landry Shamet
SF: Deni Avdija, Bilal Coulibaly, Isaiah Livers
PF: Kyle Kuzma, Patrick Baldwin Jr., Marvin Bagley
C: Daniel Gafford, Anthony Gill

The trade will essentially make no difference for either team. The Wizards and Pistons are arguably the NBA’s two worst teams, and the deal amounts to a shuffling of deck chairs aimed at freeing up some cap room for Detroit.

Bagley should get some playing time in Washington given the Wizards’ lack of depth inside, but he’s been riding the bench in Detroit of late. It’s not as if we’re discussing even a vital part of the Pistons’ rotation.

Livers has been one of the worst rotation players in basketball this season, shooting a dreadful 34.5 percent from the field. It’s hard to see him doing anything but mop-up duty for the Wizards.

Adding Gallinari and Muscala will give the Pistons some much-needed veteran voices on their young roster, but that’s about it. Both are mid-30s floor spacers whose best basketball is well in their rear view.

Muscala and Gallinari have expiring contracts, so the Pistons will benefit from the additional cap space. Detroit could have more than $60 million in cap space this summer.