After All-Star Weekend, the league was back on track. For teams that hope to win a playoff spot, this is the best time for them to exert their strength, after all, in the previous half of the season, the run-in has been completed, this time do not seize the time to win, do you still want to keep the New Year?

For the Pistons, this time should also be used well, the current situation in the East is relatively obvious, the 76ers, Pistons and Raptors occupy the first to third, the fourth Nets and the Raptors The gap has reached 6 wins, and it is impossible to catch up in a short time. The Pistons are 2 wins ahead of the Raptors and 1 win behind the 76ers, and if they can seize the opportunity, they may not be able to complete the counterattack this season to become the Eastern Conference regular season champion, after all, the recent 76ers' state is not particularly good.

The Pistons' busiest man on the team is the one who is responsible for continuing to train the Pistons players while keeping an eye on how the team is performing before the trade deadline. In his opinion, if some excellent role players can be recruited in advance, then the Pistons can make a name for themselves this season, and it is naturally easy to attract better players.

The NBA's trade deadline is set for the 16th Thursday after the start of each season, after which the league will calculate the team's total salary for the season based on the latest roster on the deadline date, and teams that exceed the luxury tax trigger will be subject to the luxury tax. Teams are not allowed to trade again until the day before the June draft, but they still have the option to lay off their players and sign free agents to address issues such as sudden injuries. Teams with a total salary of more than the salary cap can only sign free agents using a base salary clause, a mid-tier clause or a 10-day short-term clause. In addition, according to the rules, if a player is cut by the team after March 1 and reinstated as a free agent, he will not be eligible to play in the playoffs, even if he can continue to sign with other teams, in other words, it depends on the time.

There's not much to say about the Pistons' starting lineup these days, and as Thomas' defensive ability improves, the starting five Tigers basically don't have any flaws. But for a team that focuses on defense, players will consume more physical energy on the field, and even if Chang Wei has been working physical training, they will not be able to maintain a high-intensity defense throughout the game. Improving the depth of the bench must be on the agenda, otherwise the Pistons will never win a championship.

Since bringing in Crawford, the Pistons' main rotation has changed to Atkins, Crawford, Simmons, Manning and Haywood. In Chang Wei's view, Crawford's ability and potential are undoubted, Simmons and Haywood are also good rotation players, but Atkins and Manning are still too old, especially Manning, who was born in 1966, is 37 years old this year, and he can't contribute more to the team on the court, which is why the Pistons in the previous life got McDyce through a trade after winning the championship, and they need a strong interior line as a supplement behind the double Wallace.

Of course, Chang Wei will not let the Pistons bring in McDyce again, although the power forward is indeed a model of diligence and old strength, but his leg injury is still too serious, Chang Wei does not want to get a time bomb. He does want to bring a good backup power forward to the team before the trade deadline, but such a player doesn't exist in the world.

At present, the power forwards in the league are in a very strange state, either they have entered the twilight of their careers, or they are the stars of various teams, and it can be difficult to get a guy who is strong and willing to play on the bench. In fact, Chang Wei still has a candidate in mind, that is, the future captain of the Heat, Udonis Haslem, although the short big forward does not have an advantage in height, but both rebounding skills and tough style are very suitable for the Pistons.

However, when Chang Wei searched the system, he was laughed and found out that Haslem is still playing at the University of Florida and will not enter the NBA until at least the 03-04 season. Chang Wei vaguely remembers that Haslem should be an undrafted player, and the Pistons could have given Haslem a contract early this summer, but what should he do this season?

Chang Wei said that he was helpless, and he had submitted a long list to Dumas, all of whom were power forwards who were more suitable for the Pistons' style or had some development potential. Dumas, who has a lot of trust in him, kept asking other teams for the price with the list, but the result was quite embarrassing, and the Pistons basically couldn't come up with any good chips. Of course, their 2003 first-round pick from the Grizzlies is coveted by many teams, but after the draft was hailed as a golden generation to rival that of 1996 and 1984, no team would be stupid enough to trade a high pick unless it was a top star in the league.

Until the final minute of the trade deadline, the Pistons were unable to reach an agreement with other teams, which meant that they had to sign free agents for the rest of the day. Chang Wei felt a little helpless about this, but he also understood that the Pistons did not have many trading chips, and they had to hold on to the draft picks, and whether they could make a trade could only depend on luck. Now it seems that their luck is very average, and they haven't met a wronged boss who is willing to post upside down, so let's do it for the time being!

Brown was also frustrated, as he was surprised by the team's lack of results on the trade market, but he quickly gathered his mood and began to prepare for the next game. As a good manager, you can't always pin your hopes on strengthening the team, and using the existing players to play a good record is the value that a top manager should show. Moreover, the Pistons are not a fish belly right now, they have been putting pressure on the 76ers, and they have been recognized by many neutral fans.

Even if he can't lead the Pistons to a championship this season, Brown is 100 percent confident in his team. Of course, Chang Wei has more confidence than him, in his previous life, whether it was the Cavaliers or the Heat, they quickly grew into the top teams in the league after experiencing a bumper harvest in the 2003 draft, and there is no reason why the Pistons, who have a better foundation, can't do it. In Chang Wei's view, the Pistons have every hope of winning the championship in the near future, and there may be more than one, the combat effectiveness of the grassroots army is not just talking, they may even reach the height of the "bad boy army" period of their predecessors.