The Detroit Pistons may be building for the future, but they still have a need for productive veterans, in part in order to show their young players the path to success in the NBA.
One of the few reliable veterans this season was Alec Burks, a 6-foot-6 guard who has spent more than ten seasons in the league.
It appears he will be in Detroit for next season, as the team has optioned a team option into his contract for the 2023-24 campaign.
The Detroit Pistons plan to pick up Alec Burks’ $10.5 million option for 2023-2024, ESPN sources report. Burks averaged 12.8 points and 3.1 rebounds last season.
– Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 28, 2023
Burks has provided the dying Pistons with some accurate three-point shooting, hitting 41.4 percent of his attempts from behind the arc this year.
Detroit had originally acquired him in a trade with the New York Knicks last summer.
Despite finishing with the worst record in the NBA, the Pistons were lucky to only finish fifth in last week’s draft, and they used it to pick Ossar Thompson, a 6-foot-7 wing who has the potential to become a player. A very effective and versatile defender.
They’re also hoping Cade Cunningham, the first pick in the 2021 NBA draft, can start to show up and really tap into his potential.
In his two seasons so far, he’s averaged 17.8 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game, but he’s only shot 41.6 percent overall and 30.9 percent from 3-point range.
The only real trading chip the Pistons have to improve seems to be forward Bojan Bogdanovic who has scored 21.6 points a game this season and has been mentioned in several trade rumours.
He has two seasons remaining on his contract and could represent a significant upgrade for a potential title contender.
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