Detroit has dilemma at small forward

The Pistons are really sleepy right now. There isn’t much out there they can do. They are already over the salary cap and only have the mid-level exception to offer as a lure to free agents -- or they can, and might, use their entire roster as trade bait. The best they could do in free agency is landing James Posey. The worst would be having to rely on Walter Herman to back up Tayshaun Prince at small forward. Any deal that would involve Prince in a trade would have to include a small forward in return. There is very little that Detroit realistically could get back at that position equal to what Prince's value except for probably for Carmelo Anthony. It’s looking like Corey Maggette is going to be able to get a better deal than the mid-level exception. He’s not going to be available to Detroit. Ideally the Pistons are going to have to work a trade without Prince, but, at 28, he is probably their most valuable commodity, unless the team involved in the trade is looking to dump salary. Then the most valuable commodity would be Rasheed Wallace. Detroit might be able to absorb a Wallace loss more than a Prince loss if only because they have a proven big in Jason Maxiell that could fill in with another one in Amir Johnson that is waiting in the wings. He’s probably ready for a regular bench role. Bottom line is it’s going to be hard for Detroit to make a deal involving Prince without short suiting themselves as small forward.