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Three possible trade scenarios for the Detroit Pistons

By Duncan Smith

Feb 6, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Marcus Morris (13) dribbles the ball as Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) defends at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers won 112-104. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 6, 2016; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Detroit Pistons forward Marcus Morris (13) dribbles the ball as Indiana Pacers forward Paul George (13) defends at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Pacers won 112-104. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay (8) drives against the defense of Philadelphia 76ers forward Robert Covington (33) and guard Ish Smith (1) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 10, 2016; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Rudy Gay (8) drives against the defense of Philadelphia 76ers forward Robert Covington (33) and guard Ish Smith (1) during the second quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /

Trade scenario no. 3: Sacramento Kings send power forward Rudy Gay and point guard Darren Collison to the Pistons for Brandon Jennings, power forward Ersan Ilyasova and shooting guard Darrun Hilliard.

This trade works according to the trade machine, and it works for me too. In fact, it works too well. While the Sacramento Kings are probably the biggest side-show in the NBA, particularly in the front office, it’s hard for me to picture the Kings falling for this one. That said, if any team could get fleeced this hard, it would have to be the Kings.

Rudy Gay has quietly turned into a pretty decent star, and not an inefficient one at that.

Gay is shooting a career high from the field this season, hitting 47.3 percent of his field goal attempts and 34.2 percent of his three pointers. As far as the more advanced efficiency metrics, he’s having the second-best season of his career from an effective field-goal percentage with an eFG of 50.9 percent, and his true shooting is following suit with a mark of 54.6 percent.

Considering that he would essentially be filling Ilyasova’s spot, he would be a fairly significant upgrade on the offensive end at the power forward position.

As for Darren Collison coming back for Jennings, I’m a fan. Collison is averaging 13.4 points and 3.9 assists in 28 minutes per game and has shooting splits of .475/.381/.846 this season. I feel fairly comfortable in saying that Collison would not be a downgrade at the backup point guard position from Brandon Jennings.

Next: 4-on-4: Detroit Pistons' trades, playoff talk and more!

I like this deal. It’s too good and it would never happen (although of course, these are the Kings we’re talking about), but this would be a great deal for the Pistons.