Despite plenty of interest around the league, the Pistons didn’t trade Bojan Bogdanovic at the trade deadline last February because they envisioned him helping shape the future they were building with their young core — he was going to help them win. Detroit didn’t trade him last summer because he would be important to this team and its quest to be a play-in/playoff team (which, internally, is what they expected).

Now the Pistons are 2-29 and… nothing has changed. At least that’s what plugged-in Pistons beat writer James L. Edwards III wrote at The Athletic.

“Everything I’ve heard and continue to hear is that there are no plans to trade Bogdanović unless Detroit gets an offer it can’t refuse. The Pistons want to be good and don’t want to trade good players, even if Bogdanović’s role is reduced to a bench scorer next season.”

No doubt that is what Edwards is hearing from his Pistons’ sources. It’s also what a GM trying to influence the market would want to leak. Teams are calling the Pistons to kick the tires on a possible Bogdanovic trade, and GM Troy Weaver’s leverage improves if they think he is serious about keeping the veteran around.

But what are we doing here? “Good” has sailed for the Pistons, and Detroit fans would settle for a clear direction and plan. The current roster doesn’t have enough talent, and the solid players they do have don’t mesh well. The Pistons have a few young players who can and should be part of whatever is being built: Cade Cunningham (who has looked better with more spacing around him, a sign this team needs more shooting), Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson and Jaden Ivey. While the Pistons should not give Bogdanovic away, if they can get picks and young players more on the Cunningham timeline, then make the deal.

It absolutely helps to have a couple of veteran contributors on a young team, serving as a steadying influence and people who can lead by example. Veterans who can help a team avoid things like a 28-game losing streak. Bogdanovic has tried to serve in that role, but there will be other veterans who can take over that position available next summer on the free agent market. If the Pistons can get long-term pieces by trading Bogdanovic and then sign a veteran over the offseason, it seems a no-brainer.

That said, we’ve been waiting for the Pistons to trade Bogdanovic for a year now and he’s still there. Maybe nothing changes at the deadline and Detroit goes with more of the same.