How does the Kyrie Irving trade affect the Detroit Pistons?

With the recent news that Kyrie Irving has been traded to the Boston Celtics, let’s have a look at the impact that this will have on the upcoming season for the Detroit Pistons. Before we do this let me refresh your memory on the trade itself and a quick breakdown about the trade itself.

According to Shams Charania this trade sends Kyrie Irving to the Boston Celtics, in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets 2018 first round pick, which is unprotected.

In my opinion this trade just solidifies both teams as the clear top two in the Eastern Conference. The Boston Celtics now have a team stacked with star potential, and just need to put it all together. Whereas the Cleveland Cavaliers have now added extra depth (arguably the teams biggest weakness last season) and replaced Kyrie with Thomas who had very similar statistics to Kyrie’s last season.

So how does this affect the Detroit Pistons?

Short answer: I don’t think it really does affect the Detroit Pistons.

However in saying that there a few things that will affect the Detroit Pistons. The Detroit Pistons were never really going to be challenging for a top two seed in the Eastern Conference. It makes games against both teams significantly more difficult to win.

What it does do, is place a much higher significance on the final seeding throughout the Eastern Conference. A seven or eight seed in the East, now almost guarantees that you will play either Boston or Cleveland, which will be an extremely tough series.

This trade suggests to me that the Cavaliers are having one last shot at glory, and have assumed LeBron James will not re-sign with them. Isaiah Thomas’ contract will come off the books after the coming season and they will have a high draft pick to begin a rebuild around. This bodes well for the Detroit Pistons as that means that hopefully there is another playoff spot available if that does happen.

Next: Luke Kennard named best shooter by fellow rookies

Let me know who you think won the trade by voting in my poll, or comment below.