Per report this afternoon from Michael Scotto of Basketball Insiders, the Detroit Pistons have offered Reggie Jackson to the Phoenix Suns for Eric Bledsoe.
ESPN’s Marc Stein reported earlier Wednesday that the Detroit Pistons are a team that “should be added to the list of teams showing interest in Eric Bledsoe“. Reggie Jackson is the Piston connected to the rumors.
League sources say Detroit should be added to the list of teams showing interest in Eric Bledsoe, but any deal would surely depend (CONT')
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 2, 2017
But any Bledsoe-to-Detroit deal would likely depend on what the Pistons would attach to Reggie Jackson to sell the Suns on doing such a swap
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) November 2, 2017
While the wording was curious, the rumor seems to have picked up traction through the course of the day.
Adrian Wojarnowski also weighed in on the topic from the Suns’ perspective.
The Suns prefer a third team to take on Reggie Jackson in any potential Eric Bledsoe deal with the Pistons, league sources tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 2, 2017
Of course, a league source telling Stein that the Pistons “should” be added to the interest list and another league source saying the Suns would rather move Jackson than hold onto him don’t indicate any actual interest from the Pistons’ side, which leads one to be skeptical when the market has been dry for Bledsoe in the first place.
That may have changed when Basketball Insiders’ Michael Scotto arrived on the scene with a report of his own.
Pistons offered a package including Reggie Jackson and a first-round pick to the Suns for Eric Bledsoe, a league source told @BBallInsiders.
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) November 2, 2017
“A league source” sure has been busy today. While there may be validity to this rumor, it does seem to stretch credulity. Bledsoe is a better player than Reggie Jackson and doesn’t have a chronic knee condition lingering over him, but a first round draft pick is a stiff price to pay.
If the Pistons falter down the stretch and miss the playoffs or at some point decide to dismantle and rebuild, surrendering a first round draft pick could prove to be a catastrophic error.
Next: What scares you about the Pistons?
We don’t know if the Pistons have even been working the phones or if this is simply the Suns using them for leverage, but it’s worth keeping an eye on.