NBA Trade Rumors: 'Exploratory' trade talks stalling due to other teams' demands

Although the Pistons have been linked to New York's Pablo Prigioni, Miami's Norris Cole and the D-League's Lorenzo Brown (who just signed with the Timberwolves), nothing has progressed past "exploratory" talks. Van Gundy has gone on record to say that the Pistons will not sacrifice current and future assets in their hunt for a floor-general, but during the pre-game interviews in Philadelphia, the Pistons' head coach let on that the team is struggling to find the right deal. Per The Detroit Free Press's Vince Ellis:

"As much as we'd like to get it done really soon, we also would like to make what we think is the best decision," Van Gundy said. "We sort of know Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, but Plan A has to sort itself out first before you go on to the others so it could be a couple of days still. It's not just trades, it's player availability, too. Not everybody's willing to make a decision as quickly as we are. Some other people are waiting on some other things. Again, it's not just trades."

Ellis continues to write that the teams that the Pistons have contacted have been asking for more than what the Pistons are willing to offer, demanding picks or inquiring about the availability of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and other young prospects. Luigi Datome and Jonas Jerebko are apparently on the block according to Ellis, but those players alone are apparently not drawing much interest.

Since losing Brandon Jennings to an Achilles tear, D.J. Augustin and Spencer Dinwiddie have been manning the point with very mixed results. Augustin had a career shooting night in the team's loss to the Raptors, and was productive against a red-hot Cleveland team, but managed only two points and four assists in 34 minutes in a blowout loss against the lowly Philadelphia 76ers. Dinwiddie, the 38^th Selection in this year's draft has managed 3.3 points, 2.3 assists across 1.0 turnovers in 12.3 minutes per game while shooting .231/.000/1.000 as the Pistons' backup point guard. Help is needed, badly.

The Pistons are at the mercy of other team's trade needs, though. They are in dire need of a third PG and their trade partners know it, playing hardball was to be expected, but the price still seems too high to pay for a one-year rental. With an open roster spot and trade possibilities seemingly drying up, the D-League and Free Agency is looking to be the more viable option for the Pistons at this point. Van Gundy suggested the team would have found the right deal between Thursday and the end of the week-end, but with the team's current points struggling, other teams' lack of interest in the Pistons' offers and D-League prospects getting snatched up by other teams, Detroit is going to have to settle soon if it wants to pick up a player who can impact the team and help Detroit's playoff push.