{"id":205974,"date":"2026-07-24T11:53:44","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:53:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=205974"},"modified":"2026-07-24T11:53:44","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T15:53:44","slug":"detroit-demar-derozan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/07\/24\/detroit-demar-derozan\/","title":{"rendered":"Detroit Should Stop Waiting on LeBron James and Pull the Pin on DeMar DeRozan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NBA seems to be waiting for LeBron James<\/a> to make a decision, including the Pistons, who need to snap up DeMar DeRozan<\/a> before it’s too late. A six-time All-Star and a 17-season veteran of the league, DeRozan is still a mid-range master off the bench, a skill set Detroit could definitely put to good use. But if they wait too long to make this decision, the result could be missing out on the player who could change this roster from playoff roadkill to finals contenders.<\/p>\n

Detroit Should Stop Waiting on LeBron James and Pull the Pin on DeMar DeRozan<\/h2>\n

As it stands right now, the biggest rumor generator in the entirety of the league is not the fate of Jalen Duren<\/a>. It is, in fact, the status of James, one of the greatest players in the history of basketball. The living legend just wrapped up his 23rd season of professional basketball, and his final one with the Lakers. That makes him an unrestricted free agent.<\/p>\n

Every day, there are new rumors about which team is in the lead for the Kings’ services. Being that he would probably like to win at least one more championship before he retires, that most likely leaves teams like the Kings, Grizzlies, and Wizards out of the picture. James reputedly wants to reunite with Anthony Davis<\/a>, just not in Washington, D.C. Even with all of the changes they’ve made in the last six months, it’s hard to see the Wizards making a serious title run anytime soon.<\/p>\n

Franchises like the 76ers, the Cavaliers, and the Heat are all<\/a> in the mix and have championship potential with or without James. It’s been reported that the Warriors are also on the short list, though they aren’t winning a title. The only award that the existing roster with James would be up for is the oldest team in league history to miss the playoffs. A delay in his decision is an issue, though.<\/p>\n

James is Causing a Basketball Trade Traffic Jam<\/h3>\n

As the NBA waits with bated breath for James<\/a> to announce the team he’s likely to retire with, trades and signings seem to have pretty much ground to a halt. At least four teams, probably more, are vying for James to join their roster. They aren’t going to make any other moves until he is settled somewhere. This has a ripple effect throughout the league as other deals are held up by the teams in the mix for James standing pat. Essentially, free agency is on hiatus until James signs a contract.<\/p>\n

The additional problem is that he isn’t expected to make a decision anytime soon. One of the league’s most decorated players has said he doesn’t really have a timeline<\/a>. He’s weighing his options and deciding what will be right for him. He technically doesn’t need to sign before the season starts and can wait until the 2027 trade deadline.<\/p>\n

No one expects him to wait that long, of course. It’s just a way of expressing that all of this is on his terms. At the same time, teams need to make plans for the next season. That means trying to finalize a roster to make them competitive through the season and into the playoffs. It’s hard to do that if you’ve put everything on hold while waiting for one guy to make a choice. There will come a time when teams need to start moving on, and that includes the Pistons.<\/p>\n

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The Pistons Need to Move on DeRozan<\/h3>\n

Since being waived by the Kings, DeRozan has become<\/a> a major unrestricted free agent. Several teams have expressed interest in the mid-range maestro, including the Pistons. Nothing has happened because of the league-wide trade shutdown, with James taking his time to make his decision.<\/p>\n

To be clear, Detroit is not rumored to be one of the teams on the hunt for James, nor should they be. What they’re building is based on long-term planning. Signing James is part of a short-term, win-now strategy that won’t do much for the future of a franchise. DeRozan, on the other hand, has a few good seasons left in him. Coming off the bench, he could give the Pistons an additional 20 to 25 points per game. That’s nothing to joke about when you look at how close some of their playoff losses were in 2026. DeRozan would have been a difference-maker for them.<\/p>\n

If Detroit sees DeRozan as part of their future, there’s no need to wait. He’s a UFA. Sign him now before another team snaps him up. Just because the rest of the league is suffering from James-related paralysis doesn’t mean the Pistons have to, as well. Get DeRozan on a contract, already.<\/p>\n

Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images via Reuters Connect<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NBA seems to be waiting for LeBron James to make a decision, including the Pistons, who need to snap up DeMar DeRozan before it’s too late. A six-time All-Star and a 17-season veteran of the league, DeRozan is still a mid-range master off the bench, a skill set Detroit could definitely put to good […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5789,"featured_media":206123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,10,62,3],"tags":[240,350,4432,38,4774],"class_list":["post-205974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-pistons","category-nba","category-news","tag-anthony-davis","tag-demar-derozan","tag-jalen-duren","tag-lebron-james","tag-rumors"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5789"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205974"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":206124,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205974\/revisions\/206124"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}