Ryan Anderson is coming off a game on Thursday night where he scored 36 points grabbed nine rebounds and made five threes. Those types of games have been a regular occurrence for Anderson this season so it is no wonder why he is garnering so much interest on the trade market. The Detroit Pistons were expected to be one of the teams to make a run at trading for Anderson but not it seems as though they will wait for free agency to pursue him, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.
The Pistons are currently in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and have a very realistic shot of making the playoffs and possibly making some noise so it would make sense for them to try and bolster their roster at the trade deadline. Instead the Pistons reportedly want to stand pat at this deadline and make additions this offseason so they don't have to give up any of their assets.
Anderson makes a ton of sense for the Pistons because he formerly played with Stan Van Gundy in Orlando where he was the stretch four next to Dwight Howard. The Pistons have their own version of Howard in Andre Drummond so the fit makes a lot of sense and Anderson's familiarity with Van Gundy makes the Pistons a realistic option for Anderson when he does hit free agency.
The Pistons, aside from just Van Gundy are huge fans of Anderson, according to Zach Lowe of ESPN, and they will more than likely go hard after him this offseason but they are in agreement that it wouldn't make sense to trade assets for him when he could be a rental. The New Orleans Pelicans have also reportedly been very hesitant to deal Anderson because they are somehow in the playoff race and Anderson is a key piece to the team.
Although the Pistons are not expected to be players at the trade deadline they do expect to be very active this summer in free agency. Not only are they expected to go hard after Anderson, who will likely garner a max deal or something close to it, but there have also been reports that they could look at Al Horford as well, although that seems like a plan b at this point.
