Detroit Pistons May Shut Down Bojan Bogdanovic

The Detroit Pistons are deep in the throes of yet another lost season and appear on the brink of losing their best player. According to the Athletic's Shams Charania, the team may shut down leading-scorer Bojan Bogdanovic for the remainder of the season due to a lingering Achilles injury.

Today in The Bounce:@ShamsCharania reports the Pistons may shut down Bojan Bogdanović to manage nagging Achilles issues.@talkhoops weighs in on:

◽️ Pau Gasol and the surging Lakers' big night
◽️ The Knicks' recent winning streak
◽️ It's Wembsday!https://t.co/pjVVj9mEGr
— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 8, 2023

Bogdanovic had been an iron man for the Pistons this season, appearing in 59 of the team's first 61 games while leading the team with 21.6 points per game. However, that streak of good health ended recently: he has missed four of the Pistons' past five matchups. The Pistons are an NBA-worst 15-51 and are obviously completely out of the playoff hunt, so if they deem Bogdanovic a part of their future, it makes sense to preserve his well-being and embrace the race to the NBA's bottom.

The Pistons have finished with 23 or fewer wins in their three previous seasons and appear likely to do so again. That misery has earned them promising high picks Cade Cunningham (17.8 career points per game) and Jaden Ivey (15.4 career points per game), but perhaps no player in recent basketball history is as coveted as this year's presumptive first-overall pick Victor Wembanyama. If protecting Bogdanovic's long-term health increases the Pistons' chances of landing the potentially transformational Frenchman, they have a clear win-win that could ultimately rescue the franchise.