It was expected to be a quiet trade deadline for the Detroit Pistons, who set a high asking price for their core players. But one hour before the 3 p.m. deadline Thursday, a surprising deal came to fruition.
The Pistons are trading forward Saddiq Bey and acquiring center James Wiseman in a three-team deal involving the Atlanta Hawks and Golden State Warriors, according to multiple reports.
It’s general manager Troy Weaver’s fifth in-season trade in his three seasons, including his third straight year making a deal on deadline day.
The Hawks are reportedly sending five second-round picks to the Warriors to acquire Bey.
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Wiseman, who turns 22 on March 31, has standout pedigree, but has played very little basketball over the past 4 years. He was a consensus five-star recruit ranked No. 1 in the 2019 class by both 247Sports and ESPN. He played just three college games at Memphis before being ruled ineligible to play and suspended 12 games after head coach Penny Hardaway helped pay for his moving expenses, thus acting as a booster. He later declared for the draft.
Wiseman, 7 feet and 240 pounds, was then selected No. 2 overall in the 2020 NBA draft by the Warriors. He was ranked at the top of Weaver’s draft board that year. But Wiseman has played just 60 career games in 2½ seasons with Golden State, and missed all of last season with the eventual champions while recovering from a knee injury. He has played 21 games this season off the bench, averaging 6.9 points on 62.8% shooting and 3.5 rebounds over 12.5 minutes per game.
The dumping of Wiseman reportedly saves the Warriors $131 million in tax and salary payments through next season.
Bey, 23, saw his role shift between the first and second units this season as the Pistons accommodated newcomer Bojan Bogdanovic. Bey averaged 14.8 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 52 games this season (30 starts), shooting 34.5% on 5.6 3-point attempts per game (1.9 makes).
He hit the winning 3-pointer at the buzzer to stun the Warriors in San Francisco on Jan. 4
The Pistons originally acquired Bey on 2020 draft night with the 19th pick in a three-team deal in exchange for Bruce Brown, Luke Kennard and four second-round picks. That was Weaver’s first draft.