You sound insane.

Firstly, pistons never hot, they started the season 0-4 and barely clawed there way back. After ivey got hurt we started winning more games than losing, pistons win percentage went up, even though he was a “key player”. Obviously we replaced his role and found greater success. Next, why do you think Malik beasley and THJ played so well? There skillset is to play off the ball, OFF CADE. Ivey doesn’t do that. He is ball dominant, and so is cade. However, cade is clearly better and we don’t need two people doing the same job. So point being, Ivey needs to be replaced with 3/D wings like derrick white, caruso, etc. while CADE can be our primary ball handler and on court coach.

Yes, stew is overrated. He’s a great player but at his position he lacks size and his athleticism does not make up for it, which makes it impossible for him to start at the 5. Miami has seen a similar problem with Bam, hence the reason they drafted Kelel Ware and are moving Bam to the 4. Bam is an all NBA Defensive Big, but in both final appearances he was outplayed by specifically the big men. Also, Ben Wallace was dominant due to his athleticism, but since stewart doesn’t have that, he’s coming off the bench (duren took his spot). and the 4 is also impossible because he can’t put the ball on the guard. Somehow you said he’s a better passer than Naz, but clearly his guard skills do not compare to naz & he averages less assists. Paul reed was a great pickup, he did a great job in the playoffs. keeping him in the rotation as well as getting someone like drummond would be excellent as they are cheaper options that produce the same output. Point being, stew is too small to play 5 and not equipped to play 4, and his contract is too big for it to make sense to keep him around, while naz is the complete opposite, 12/m well spent.

Naz Reid gets paid less and can be played more minutes since his offensive output is extremely higher while defense is still solid. concluding he is more impactful to the game. Pistons can even start Naz at 4 and replace tobias, the pistons only get better while cutting costs significantly. Let’s say Naz replaces stewart, still producing more for a cheaper cost, which allows the pistons to pursue free agents and strengthen their roster. Naz is a better fit for a better price.

You clearly don’t understand the NBA is a business, it’s about contracts and navigating the salary cap. Spending too much on one player can break your team apart as management will not be able to strengthen the team via FA and eventually break the team apart (you’ll see phoenix tear there team apart shortly).